Scholarships

• Be an active member of United or be claimed as a dependent of parents or legal guardians who are active United members at their principle residence.
• Must provide a transcript signed and dated by a high school counselor- certifying accuracy of the GPA. Graduate high school with a minimum 2.5 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale. Home school students must provide a copy of their transcript from high school level coursework.
• Meet the general entrance requirements at an accredited four-year university, junior college or TEA approved trade school of their choice.
• One-page typed personal essay explaining community and school service, financial need and seriousness of purpose
• Submit proof of income (parents/guardians, if applicable), such as W-2, etc.
• Applicant must have one letter of recommendation sent to the cooperative (eg. from a teacher, administrator, etc.).

• Be an active member of United or be claimed as a dependent of parents or legal guardians who are active United members at their principle residence.
• Must provide proof of 2.0 post-secondary grade point average on a 4.0 scale.
• Be enrolled as a full-time student (12 semester hours minimum) at an accredited four-year university, junior college, or TEA approved trade school.
• One-page typed personal essay explaining community and school service, financial need and seriousness of purpose.
• Submit proof of income (parents/guardians, if applicable), such as W-2, etc.
• Applicant must have one letter of recommendation sent to the cooperative (eg. from a teacher, administrator, etc.).
• Unfortunately, this scholarship is not available to graduate students or students who have already achieved a bachelor's degree.

• There will be two rounds of judging.
• Award judging: The placement of the 15 award recipients out of all applicants will be determined by an independent panel of judges who will base the awards on financial need (60 percent weight) and leadership, community service and school activities (40 percent weight). Some components for this part of the award judging must be completed by filling out the online application at www.ucs.net.
• School Activities include: Transcripts, letter of recommendation, school activities listed on online application and essay.
• Financial need is determined by W-2 tax information and any information included in the essay related to financial need.
• Judges will award a score of between 1-10 in each of the two categories with 1 being the lowest possible rating and 10 being the highest.
• The judges’ score sheets will include a four-digit applicant number (no names) that corresponds with the four-digit number on the application.
• Second Round: The 15 recipients will participate in an interview with a panel of judges who will base the awards on the student’s statement of purpose, knowledge of cooperative, poise and speaking ability. Each recipient will be asked three questions:
  1. Tell us why you believe you should be selected as one of United’s top scholarship award recipients and what do you expect to gain by winning a United Energy Scholarship and advancing your education?
  2. What is the difference between an Electric Cooperative and an Investor-Owned utility?
  3. Tell us what you know about United Cooperative Services—Counties Served, Board of Directors, Who are the owners, Programs offered (i.e. Energy Innovation, etc.)

• Be enrolled as a full-time college student (12 semester hours minimum).
• Provide proof of enrollment and coursework at the beginning of each semester and proof of grades at the end of each semester in order to receive next scholarship disbursement.
• Maintain a 2.0 GPA.
• Apply the scholarship money toward tuition and fees required for enrollment, books, supplies or equipment required for coursework.

• Award is based on financial need (60 percent weight) and leadership, community
  service and school activities (40 percent weight)
• United will award 15 scholarships. The top three winners will receive $10,000 for first place, $5,000 for second place and $4,000 for third place. The remaining 12 recipients will receive $2,000 each.
• Any ties in grading will be broken according to the grade given for financial need.
• These students (or their legal guardians) must maintain membership with United at principle
  residence.
• Applications will be submitted to the selection committee in an anonymous format and graded on the listed criteria.
• Scholarship money must be used to pay for tuition and fees required for enrollment, books, supplies and/or equipment required for coursework at an accredited or TEA approved educational institution.  Scholarship money may not be used for housing or living expenses.
• Recipient is required to submit proof of previous semester’s coursework and cumulative minimum 2.5 high school or 2.0 college GPA.
• If recipient’s cumulative GPA falls below 2.0, or if the recipient fails to register as a full-time student for the spring semester, the scholarship recipient will be placed on probationary status and United reserves the right to withhold the scholarship payment until probationary issues are resolved.  If probationary issues continue beyond one semester, any unpaid scholarship funds will be revoked.  If a student fails to register for coursework or submit documentation to United, the scholarship for that semester will be revoked.

• Each scholarship is paid in two installments.
• Recipient is required to submit proof of spring enrollment and sustained 2.0 GPA from fall semester to qualify for the second installment.  Payment will be made to the school’s financial aid or business office after all documentation is provided to United.

• All scholarship applications must be submitted electronically through United’s website at www.ucs.net.  Any additional documentation (as outlined in the application) that cannot be submitted electronically must be mailed to the address below or delivered in person to any United office.
• United’s Board of Directors, employees and their immediate family members are not eligible to apply.
• Applicant may apply as often as desired, but may only receive a United scholarship once.
• Applicant must have one letter of recommendation sent to the cooperative (eg. from a teacher, administrator, etc.).
• Applications will be submitted to the selection committee in an anonymous format and graded on the criteria mentioned above.
• All items submitted become the property of United Cooperative Services.
• Applicants may e-mail scholarships@ucs.net to verify the online application and supporting documents were received.
• Electronic applications will be accepted from May 1 through June 1.  Students will not be able to submit an application before or after these dates.  Supplemental documents as required and outlined in the application may be delivered in person to any United office or sent by mail to:

                          United Energy Scholarship
                           P.O. Box 1809
                          Burleson, TX 76097