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The application program will be available again in May. Please return then to view the updated Eligibility and Awards for the upcoming 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!

John M. Shank Memorial Scholarship Program
Application status: Closed

The John M. Shank Memorial Foundation has established a scholarship program to assist employees and employees’ children who plan to continue their education in college and vocational-technical school programs. Scholarships are offered for full-time undergraduate and graduate study at an accredited institution of the student’s choice for the upcoming school year.

The 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.

Applicants must meet all of the following criteria:

  • Be dependent* children, age 26 and under, of full-time employees of Johnstone or affiliated Distributor employees as of the application deadline date.
    *Dependent children are defined as biological, step- or legally adopted children living in the employee’s household or primarily supported by the employee. The tax returns of the parent must be submitted with the application and will be used to determine dependency.”
    OR
  • Be employees of Johnstone or an affiliated Distributor at the time the recipients are selected.
    AND
  • Be high school seniors, high school graduates or GED recipients, current postsecondary undergraduates or graduate level students.
  • Plan to enroll in full-time or part-time undergraduate or graduate study at an accredited two-year or four-year college, university, vocational-technical school or graduate school for the entire upcoming academic year.

Award Amounts
If selected as a recipient, the student will receive an award of at least $6,000. Up to 20 awards will be granted in full compliance with the IRS Revenue Procedure 76-47.

Awards are not renewable; however, students may reapply to the program each year they meet eligibility requirements. Per IRS Revenue Procedure 76-47, the employment eligibility requirements does not apply to previous recipients.

Awards may be used for tuition, books, supplies and fees. Awards are for undergraduate and graduate study.

Selection of Recipients

  • 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

Financial need will also be considered. Recipients must demonstrate financial need, as calculated by Scholarship America.

Notification
Applicants will be notified at the end of July.

Payment of Scholarships
The John M. Shank Memorial Foundation will submit awards to the schools on behalf of the recipients.

As part of your application, you must upload the following document(s):

  • 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.
  • Copy of the first two pages of the Johnstone employee’s most recently filed IRS 1040 tax form used to complete the Financial Information section of the application.

    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 June 10, 2025 3:00 pm Central Time.

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

The John M. Shank Memorial Foundation has partnered with Scholarship America. Selecting the button below will redirect you 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.