Our Scholarship Application and Essay Deadline was April 1, 2024.
Please try again next year!
Each year, your credit union awards two scholarships: the Above and Beyond Scholarship and the Educators of Tomorrow Scholarship. This year, to better support the cost of higher education, we have increased the scholarship amounts to $3,000 each (previously $1,000).
Online applications with written or video essays were accepted January 1 through April 1, 2024.
Scholarship Requirements
To be eligible for either of our scholarships, general requirements include:
- Azura Credit Union members or those with an immediate family member with an Azura account.
- Membership effective date must be prior to December 2023.
- Applicants will be attending an accredited higher education institute within the state of Kansas or within 80 miles of an Azura Credit Union location.
Scholarship specific requirements are listed below.
Above & Beyond Scholarship
Applicants are eligible for the Above & Beyond Scholarship if they are one or more of the following:
- A high school senior graduating in 2024
- A current or future university or college student
- A current or future vocational or technical student
To apply for the Above & Beyond Scholarship, applicants must submit an Azura Scholarship Application alongside a written or video essay answering the following question:
"If you could add one class to your educational journey, what would it be and why?"
Essay requirements:
- Written essay submissions must be 300-500 words in length, OR
- Video essay submissions must be 60 seconds in length.
Educators of Tomorrow
Applicants are eligible for the Educators of Tomorrow Scholarship if they are one or more of the following:
- Seeking a degree in the educational field (required)
- A high school senior graduating in 2024
- A current or future university or college student
To apply for the Educators of Tomorrow Scholarship, applicants must submit an Azura Scholarship Application alongside a written or video essay answering the following topic:
"Teach us something all kids in your future classroom will need to know to be successful."
Essay requirements:
- Written essay submissions must be 300-500 words in length, OR
- Video essay submissions must be 60 seconds in length.
Commonly Asked Questions
- Applications open on January 1, 2024.
- All applications and supporting documentation must be received no later than April 1, 2024.
- Azura Credit Union members or those with an immediate family member with an Azura account.
- Membership effective date must be prior to December 2023.
- Applicants will be attending an accredited higher education institute within the state of Kansas or within 80 miles of an Azura Credit Union.
- Applicants should be classified as one or more of the following:
- A high school senior graduating in 2024.
- A current or future university or college student.
- A current or future vocational or technical institute student.
- Both traditional and non-traditional students are encouraged to apply.
Education and Skills Scholarships have additional requirements.
- Provide a copy of your high school or most recent transcripts
- Provide a copy of your acceptance to attend a Kansas accredited higher education institute
- Applicants are required to complete a 300-500 word written essay OR a 60 second video based on a topic chosen specifically for each Scholarship
- Above and Beyond Scholarship: "If you could add one class to your educational journey, what would it be and why?"
- Educators of Tomorrow: "Teach us something all kids in your future classroom will need to know to be successful."
Judging will take place in late April 2024 and will be conducted by a committee selected by Azura Credit Union. Points will be awarded based on your submitted 300-500 word written essay OR 60 second video as well as your transcripts and community activities to determine the scholarship recipients.
Recipients will be announced May 2024.
Before you begin recording your video:
- Make sure to put your phone on a tripod or something to keep your phone stable. It is important to have a steady shot. Always film in landscape mode.
- It is best to have lighting in front of you, so you can be seen clearly. Make sure your lighting is not behind you.
- Make sure your camera lens is clean.
- Be aware of your background. You do not want the application committee focusing more on what is in the background vs listening to what you have to say.
- Develop your outline of talking points before you start filming. This will keep you on track and not talking randomly about things that have nothing to do with the topic.
Recording tips:
- Introduce yourself.
- Speak slowly and clearly.
- Pay attention to your volume.
- Make sure you end at 60 seconds.
- Be creative.
- Watch your submission before you submit it.
- Get a second opinion from someone you trust.
- Scholarship proceeds will be sent the first week of August 2024.
- Scholarship proceeds may be used to help pay tuition, housing, books or meal costs and will be paid directly to the college/university or technical school by Azura Credit Union.
- It is at the discretion of the committee if an applicant is eligible to win more than one scholarship.
- Applicants and recipients are eligible to apply in future years.
- Winners agree to have their names, photos and potential educational/biographical information published in Azura Credit Union publications and press releases.
- Azura Credit Union employees and Board Members are not eligible. Immediate family members of Azura Credit Union employees or Board Members are also not eligible.
- Immediate family is defined as: spouse, parents and grandparents, children and grandchildren, brothers and sisters, mother-in-law and father-in-law, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, daughters-in-law and sons-in-law. Adopted, half and step members are also included in the definition of immediate family.
Questions?
Contact Katie Beach, Community Relationship Manager at katie.beach at azuracu dot com or 800-432-2470.