Christian College Scholarship

 
 

SVBC Christian College Scholarship Fund

This Fund was established to promote Christian higher education among the students and families represented within Skokie Valley Baptist Church (SVBC). There is a spiritual battle within higher education. Statistics say that 70% of students walk away from their faith during college years. Although a Christian college is not enough to resolve this problem, tangibly encouraging students to consider Christian schools is a step in the right direction.

School Qualifications:

The school must affirm the doctrinal statement of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) or have a doctrinal statement which in no way diverges from the NAE doctrinal statement.

Student Qualifications:

  1. A student will be qualified to receive this scholarship no more than four years for an undergraduate program and/or three years for a graduate or post-graduate program.

  2. At least one of the student’s parents (or the student themself) must have regularly attended SVBC for a minimum of 2 (two) years before the student is qualified to receive the scholarship.

  3. The student must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.3 or higher. If the student’s GPA drops below 2.3, they will forfeit qualification until such time that the GPA returns to 2.3.

Receipt of Donations:

All donors (including parents of students) are free to contribute to this fund, realizing that funds will not be designated toward any single student but equally available to all.

Distribution of Benefits:

  • Payments will be made directly to the student’s school for fixed costs (e.g., tuition, housing).

  • All applicants will be treated equally, regardless of size of need.

  • For students pursuing full-time ministry, the benefit will be calculated double (e.g.,a student pursuing an engineering degree at Cedarville may receive $500 in a semester, whereas a student pursuing a Master of Divinity at Trinity will receive $1000 in the same semester).

  • Scholarship will be strictly limited to funds available at the time of distribution.

Process:

  1. The student must be accepted into the Christian school and confirm intention to enroll.

  2. The student will submit a letter of request to SVBC including: (1) what school and degree program they are enrolled in (include student ID number, if known), (2) a brief plan for how they will/do prioritize growing in their faith while at school, and (3) a transcript to confirm GPA (unofficial is permitted). Letters can be sent to Pastor Ben or to the church office.

  3. Disbursements will be made twice per year according to Fall and Spring semesters. Deadlines for requests are listed below, and late requests will not be permitted.

    • Fall requests must be received by Aug. 1st

    • Spring requests must be received by Dec. 1st

  4. Shortly after the deadlines, the review committee (including one pastor, one Board member, and one member-at-large, all unrelated to potential recipients) will meet to screen all requests and compile a list of recipients.

  5. The resulting list of recipients will be submitted to the Treasurer / Business Manager for disbursement of funds.