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MissionSquare Retirement Memorial Scholarship Fund
Deadline to apply: April 1, 2025 3:00 pm Central Time

The MissionSquare Retirement Memorial Scholarship Fund, honors education, health care, not-for-profit, public safety, and local and state government employees who have fallen in the line of duty while serving their communities by providing their surviving children or spouses with financial assistance for postsecondary education. Scholarships are awarded to students who plan to attend a two- or four-year accredited college, university, or vocational school full-time.

This scholarship program is administered by Scholarship America, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarship and other educational 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.

The MissionSquare Retirement Memorial Scholarship Fund provides scholarships to the surviving children and spouses of city, county, and state public employees, as well as personnel in the education, healthcare and not-for-profit industries, who have fallen in the line of duty while serving their communities*.

Applicants to the MissionSquare Retirement Memorial Scholarship Fund must be:

  • The children or spouse of a deceased employee that worked in education, health care, not-for-profit, public safety, local or state government who have fallen in the line of duty while serving their communities. (The applicant must provide a letter from the deceased employee’s place of work certifying that the employee died in the line of duty.)
  • High school seniors, or graduates who plan to enroll or students who are already enrolled full-time in an undergraduate or graduate program at an accredited two- or four-year college, university, or vocational-technical school for the entire academic year.

Unusual circumstances pertaining to the deceased employee’s death will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

*With the exception of those effected by 9/11.

Selection of Recipients

Scholarship recipients are selected based on:

  • Academic record
  • Demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
  • Work experience
  • A statement of educational and career goals and objectives
  • Unusual personal or family circumstances
  • An online recommendation

Recipients must demonstrate financial need.

Scholarship America will review all applications and identify finalists; MissionSquare Retirement selects recipients and determines award amounts. All applicants agree to accept the decision as final.

Awards

Awards cover tuition and fees only for students pursuing vocational, undergraduate, or graduate study.

The number of scholarships available and the dollar amount may vary each year depending on the number of qualified applications received. The maximum lifetime amount a recipient is eligible to receive is $10,000.

Notification

All applicants will be notified in June.

Payment of Scholarships

Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of MissionSquare Retirement. Payment is made in August.

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

  • A current, complete transcript of grades. Grade reports are not accepted. Transcripts must display:
    • Student name
    • School name
    • Grades
    • Credit hours for each course and term in which each course was taken.
  • An official letter or death certificate from the deceased employee’s place of work certifying that the employee died in the line of duty.

    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. 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 April 4, 2025 3:00 pm Central Time.

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

MissionSquare Retirement has partnered with Scholarship America. Selecting the button below will redirect you to the Scholarship America Student Hub!

Please make sure to add studentsupport@scholarshipamerica.org as well as the program email address provided below in the footer as safe senders in your email contact list.