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United Farmers Cooperative Scholarship Program
Deadline to apply: March 2, 2023 3:00 pm CT

United Farmers Cooperative (UFC) has established this scholarship program to recognize and reward the academic achievement, co-curricular participation, and community involvement of the children of its patrons and employees. Agriculture and the world are rapidly becoming more complex and sophisticated. With this in mind, an educational base and technical training become important tools to cope and flourish in such an environment. We at UFC encourage each student to remember their heritage as they pursue their studies. It is our hope that these awards assist in developing careers that enhance the future of rural Minnesota.

This program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarship, tuition assistance 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, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender, disability, or national origin.

Applicants of the United Farmers Cooperative Scholarship Program award must be:

  • Dependent* children of either UFC voting patrons** or of full-time employees.
  • Students who are seniors in high school or recent high school graduates.
  • Planning to enroll for the first time in a full-time undergraduate course of study at an accredited two- or four-year college, university, or vocational-technical school.
*Dependent children are defined as natural and legally adopted children or stepchildren living in th patron’s or employee’s household or primarily supported by the patron or employee.
**Voting patrons are defined as active farmer producers who use UFC products and services in excess of $10,000 per year.

Award Information

If selected as a recipient, the student will receive a $1,250 award.

Up to six (6) total awards will be granted given qualified candidate(s) and disbursed as follows:

  • Up to five (5) awards of $1,250 may be granted to children of United Cooperative voting patrons.
  • Up to two (2) awards will be granted to dependent children of United Farmers Cooperative employees.
  • Up to one (1) award of $1,250 will be designated as the Arnie Berdan Memorial Scholarship award, for a student majoring in agriculture. Preference will be given to a child of a full-time employee, assuming there is a qualified applicant.

Awards are not renewable.

Awards are for undergraduate study only.

Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:

  • Academic record
  • Demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
  • Honors
  • Work experience
  • Statement of educational and career goals and objectives
  • Unusual personal or family circumstances

Financial need is not considered.

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

Notification

Scholarship recipients will be announced at their schools awards program when applicable, or by an individual presentation to the scholar arranged by UFC.

Payment of Scholarships

Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of the UFC in early 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 and credit hours for each course and 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. If you are uploading a college transcript, those scores are not required.

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

United Farmers Cooperative has partnered with Scholarship America. Select the button below to be directed to the Scholarship America Student Hub!