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The application program will be available again December. Please return then to view the updated Eligibility and Awards for the next academic year! If you are an applicant who would like to discover more scholarship opportunities you might qualify for, please continue to the Scholarship America Hub and sign up!

Duke Energy Scholars Program
Application status: Closed

The Duke Energy Foundation has established a scholarship program to assist dependents of Duke Energy Corporation employees and retirees who plan to continue their education in college or vocational school programs.

This program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarships and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations and individuals. Eligibility for individual programs is determined at the sole discretion of the sponsor, and eligible applications are reviewed by Scholarship America’s evaluation team. Awards are granted without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, age, gender, disability or national origin.

Applicants to the Duke Energy Scholars Program must be:

  • Be dependent children (natural, legally adopted, stepchildren, or legal wards) of qualified employees, retirees or surviving spouses/domestic partners of deceased employees of Duke Energy Corporation. Employees must be employed by Duke Energy Corporation at the time of awards selection. Children of deceased employees are eligible if their parent was employed at their date of death and had completed at least one year of continuous service with the company. (Note: The scholarship competition is not a part of any Duke benefits package.) Children of retirees and long-term disability recipients who meet the one year continuous service are also eligible.
    • Employees of companies acquired by Duke Energy Corporation must have completed at least one year of continuous service with the predecessor company or have a total of one year continuous service with the predecessor company and Duke Energy before January 1 of the college year for which application is made. Retirees of any company that is acquired by Duke Energy are required to have retired after the effective date of acquisition and must meet previously stated criteria regarding length of employment.
    • If there is a plan for an employee group to transfer to a Duke Energy company that sponsors Duke Energy benefit plans in advance of the scholarship entry deadline, employees from that area may submit an application, pending the enactment of their change in benefit/payroll status. Those completed applications will still be due on the same date as all other applications.
  • Be graduating high school seniors who plan to enroll in a full time undergraduate course of study at an accredited two or four year college or university or vocational-technical school in the United States. The non-proprietary educational institution must be qualified under IRS guidelines to receive contributions from Duke Energy Foundation.
  • Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores or American College Testing (ACT) scores are optional. There is no minimum score required to apply.

Employees who are members of the Enterprise Leadership Team (ELT) at the time of application are not eligible to have their dependents apply for scholarships.

Up to 25 awards of $5,000 each will be granted for students attending 4-year colleges or universities.

Up to 15 awards of $2,500 awards will be granted for students attending accredited two-year colleges or vocational-technical schools.

All awards are one-time awards and are non-renewable

Awards will be used toward payment of, and may not exceed, standard costs of tuition, room, board, books and fees, as established by the school, college or university. Transcript fees, dorm dues, post office fees, extra-curricular activities and other special fees are not included in the scholarship.

Awards are for undergraduate study only.

Notification

All applicants will be notified in March.  Not all applicants to the program will be selected as recipients.

Payment of Scholarships

Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of Duke Energy Foundation.

Payments are made in one installment on July 26.

Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:

  • Consideration of academic performance
  • Demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
  • Honors
  • Work experience
  • Statement of career and educational goals and objectives
  • Unusual personal or family circumstances
  • Online recommendation

Preference given to first-generation students

Financial need will not be considered.

Selection of recipients is made by Scholarship America. In no instance does any officer or employee of Duke Energy Foundation play a part in the selection. All applicants agree to accept the decision as final.

Revisions
Duke Energy Foundation reserves the right to review the conditions and procedures of this scholarship program and to make changes at any time including termination of the program.

As part of your application, you must upload the following:

  • A current, complete transcript of grades. Grade reports are not accepted. Transcripts must display the student name, school name, grades and credit hours for each course, as well as the term in which each course was taken.

NOTE: If you are providing SAT or ACT test scores, and those scores are not listed on your high school transcript, you will need to upload a copy of your test score report(s) separately (not required if attending two-year colleges or vocational-technical schools). If you are uploading a college transcript, those scores are not required.

One online recommendation form must be submitted on your behalf no later than February 3, 2023 4:00 pm Eastern Time.

Your application is not complete unless all required documents are submitted electronically

Duke Energy Foundation has partnered with Scholarship America. Selecting the button below will redirect you the Scholarship America Student Hub!