Applicants to the Bright Futures Scholarship Program must be:

• Dependent* children of full time employees of Kimberly-Clark Corporation or its U.S., Puerto Rican, or Canadian subsidiaries who have a minimum of six months of consecutive full-time employment with the company as of the selection deadline date (January 26, 2021). Parents must be regular, full-time employees on the date the recipients are selected. Part time and job share employees are ineligible.

Children of employees in position rated Grade 4 or above, are ineligible to apply to this program. (Children of employees in positions rated Grade 5 through 18 are eligible.) If both parents work for Kimberly-Clark, both must meet the Grade requirement.

*Dependent children are defined as natural or legally adopted children, as well as stepchildren living in the employee’s household who receive more than 50% of their financial support from the employee, OR children by legal guardianship who receive 100% of their financial support from the employee (excluding the child’s own income if the guardian provides at least 50% of the total support).

• Graduating high school seniors who plan to enroll in full-time undergraduate study working towards a bachelor’s degree at an accredited four-year college or university for the entire upcoming academic year. Enrollment must begin no later than the fall semester following the granting of a Bright Futures scholarship. In the event a recipient is unable to attend in the fall semester immediately following the granting of the award, recipient will forfeit the award. In Canada, students may attend a three-year college or university if they enroll in a program leading to a bachelor’s degree.

Students who receive other scholarships that pay for all of the student’s tuition, required fees, books, supplies, and room and board, or who receive appointment to a military academy where no tuition is required, are ineligible to receive a cash award.

Selection of Recipients

Scholarship America reviews and gives careful consideration to all information submitted on the application, and reflected in the transcript and recommendation.

Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:

• Grade point average, class rank and test scores
• Demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
• Awards and honors
• Work experience
• Statement of educational and career goals and aspirations
• Unusual personal or family circumstances
• An online recommendation from a teacher, principal, or counselor who knows the student’s credentials

Academic achievement counts for one-half of the evaluation. The other sections of the application that illustrate participation and leadership comprise the other half of the evaluation. Financial need is not considered.

Students from Canada or Puerto Rico who will be attending colleges in Canada or Puerto Rico will not be required to take or submit scores from SAT or ACT tests, and their academic rating shall be based on the other academic factors used to evaluate applicants. Due to the impact of COVID on availability of standardized testing, in the event a student does not supply test scores to be evaluated, the other academic factors provided will be used instead. Students will not be negatively affected by a lack of test scores.

Selection of recipients is made by Scholarship America. In no instance does any officer or employee of Kimberly-Clark Corporation or the Kimberly-Clark Foundation play a part in the selection except for the verification of parent/guardian employment. All applicants agree to accept the decision as final.

Awards

If selected as a recipient, you will receive an award of $5,000 (U.S.) per year for up to four years, subject to satisfying renewal criteria. Up to 100 awards will be granted each year. Under IRS rules, awards may be granted to only twenty-five percent of eligible applicants.

Scholarship awards may be used only while students are full-time candidates for a bachelor’s degree at the college and in good standing as determined by the college. Scholarship awards may be used for education-related expenses including, but not limited to, tuition, required fees, books, required supplies, and room and board. (Check with your Bursar or Financial Aid officer for your school’s definition of education-related expenses.) All checks are payable to the college. Some uses of the award may result in all or a portion of the award being taxable to the student. The reporting of the scholarship award for income tax filing purposes is the responsibility of the recipient. You or your parents may wish to consult a tax advisor regarding reporting obligations.

Awards are renewable to provide assistance for up to four years of continuous study, provided you maintain satisfactory academic performance, remain in good standing as a bachelor degree candidate as determined by the college, and submit a transcript at the conclusion of each school year. Satisfactory academic performance means 1) achieving a 2.0 grade point average (GPA) or better on a 4.0 scale (or a “C” average or better in Canada) each grading period (semester or quarter), with no more than one grading period below the requirement, and 2) maintaining full-time status, with no more than one grading period below the requirement.

If you earn a bachelor’s degree in three years, you may use the fourth year’s grant for graduate study. The graduate study must begin the semester immediately following receipt of a bachelor’s degree.

Notification

Applicants will be notified in March. Not all applicants to the program will be selected as recipients. Once the scholarship is awarded, continued parent/guardian employment with Kimberly-Clark is not required for the recipient to continue receiving the award.

Payment of Scholarships

Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of the Kimberly-Clark Foundation. Payments are made in equal installments on or within two days of August 1 and December 15. Checks are made payable to the school and will be distributed by EFT to the educational institution of choice if the institution is a participating affiliate or mailed to the student’s permanent home address along with a check memo that specifies how the funds may be used. The student is responsible for transmitting both the check and check memo to the appropriate school office for application to the student’s account.

Required Application Materials

You are solely responsible for gathering and submitting all information necessary to the application process. Applications are evaluated on the information supplied; therefore, answer all questions as completely as possible. Before registering, you may wish to gather the following information prior to creating your application account:

• Your Kimberly-Clark parent’s employee identification number and work location city and state
• Your high school’s/secondary school’s full street address and phone number
• Information about your work experience during the past four years, including dates of employment for each job and the approximate number of hours worked per week
• Information about your involvement in school and community activities during the past four years, including the number of years of participation in each activity/organization, leadership positions or offices held, and awards and honors received
• A brief statement or summary of your plans as they relate to your educational and career objectives and long-term goals (1000 character limit including spaces = approximately 200 words)
• If applicable, a brief description of how and when any personal or family circumstances impacted your achievement in school, work experience, or your participation in school or community activities (1000 character limit including spaces = approximately 200 words)

As part of your application, you must upload (online application) or include (French application) the following:

• Current, complete transcript of grades for all secondary education course work completed. It is recommended, but not required, that the transcript include 7 semesters of high school grades. Online transcripts must display your name, school name, grades and credit hours for each course and the term in which each course was taken. Grade reports are not accepted. Either you or the school official who provided the transcript may mail it to Scholarship America if submitting a French application.
• A clear explanation of your school’s grading scale. Please include this item with the transcript.
• Optional: Your Resume.

Also, as part of your application, one online recommendation from a teacher, principal, or counselor who knows your credentials must be submitted on your behalf:

For applications submitted online through the Scholarship America Hub, the online recommendation form must be submitted on your behalf no later than 3:00 p.m. Central Time on January 29, 2021.

Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.

Please read these important reminders:

1. The scholarship application may be completed in either English or French.
• To submit in English, complete the electronic application available through the Scholarship America Hub. You must electronically submit the application by 3:00 p.m. Central Time on January 26, 2021. An online Recommendation form must also be submitted on your behalf by 3:00 p.m. Central Time on January 29, 2021.
• To submit in French, open the French Application. Print, complete and mail the application to Scholarship America postmarked no later than January 26, 2021. The Applicant Appraisal/Academic Record Form must be completed and submitted with the application.
2. All applicants, whether submitting an electronic application or French paper application, must also submit: A) a current complete high school transcript, and B) an explanation of your school’s grading scale. If not uploaded with your electronic application, send your transcript and completed Applicant Appraisal/Academic Record Form to the address below postmarked no later than January 26, 2021. Please ensure the program name and address are printed exactly as shown. If these items are not received by Scholarship America, your application will be deemed incomplete and will not be evaluated.
3. Regarding electronic applications:
• To create your online application account on the Scholarship America Hub, click the “Apply Now” button below. Once at the Hub, select “I’m a student” in the “First time here” section to register for your account. If you have previously set up an account on the Hub, enter your username and password to log in to your account.
• When registering, you must provide a valid active email address and create a username. You will then receive an email verifying the email address with a link set up a password and complete your Hub student account registration. Communication throughout the application process will be by email and sent to the email used to register. Students who fail to use a valid active email address that will accommodate bulk mail or who fail to check the email account regularly may not receive consideration. In order to avoid email from Scholarship America being directed to your junk mailbox, be sure to add kcbrightfutures@scholarshipamerica.org to your email contacts or address book.
• After registering and logging in to the Hub, you will need to complete the Profile section. Once completed/updated and saved, eligible students will find the application under the Scholarships page of the Hub.
• At any point while completing the application, you may leave the Scholarship America Hub and return later to update your information before submitting the completed application. To do so, click on “Save Answers” on the application page and proceed to log out. When you return to the Hub, you will be required to enter your username and password to log in to your Hub account. The application can be accessed on the Dashboard of your Hub account.
• All required fields must be completed in the appropriate format in order to submit the application. Please use standard capitalization when entering data (example: Jill Smith, 10 Main Street, New York, NY).
• Carefully review your entire application before submitting it. Saving the application does not submit the application. After completing all required fields and uploading the required materials, the option to “Lock and Submit” will be available. Once an application is submitted, no revisions can be made and you will no longer have access to update your application. A review of submitted online applications can be accessed on the Dashboard of your Hub account.
• After submitting an online application, a confirmation email will be sent to the registered email address. If you submit a French paper application by mail, you will receive an acknowledgment card via email. If the acknowledgment card is not received within four weeks of the date of mailing, applicants may call Scholarship America to verify that the application has been received.

If submitting a French application, send your transcript and completed Applicant Appraisal/Academic Record Form to the address below. Please ensure the program name and address are printed exactly as shown.
 

Contact Us:

Email: kcbrightfutures@scholarshipamerica.org

Call: 1-507-931-1682 or 1-800-537-4180 and ask for the Bright Futures Scholarship Program