YOUTH EMPOWERMENT SCHOLARSHIP

The Texas Foster Family Association (TFFA) offers scholarships to foster, kinship, and children adopted through the Texas foster care system whom wish to further their education beyond high school, including college or university studies, vocational / technical school, or junior college.

The scholarship is awarded to enable young people who are, or have been, in the care of, or looked after by the State of Texas, to access and succeed in higher education and to provide financial help to young people who have grown up in out of home care.

Guidelines

Applicants must be residents of Texas who are foster, adopted, or biological children of TFFA membership.
Application deadline for fall semester is May 1 and spring semester is December 1.
Applications must be completed with all necessary information and received by the Scholarship Committee by the above dates for consideration.
Applicant must be enrolled as full-time students (12 hours or more) or part-time students (under 12 hours) in an accredited college or university studies, vocational/technical school, or junior college.
High School Student: Graduating high school seniors must have a letter of acceptance from a college, or center for higher learning.
Full-Time Student: Must carry and complete 12 hours and maintain a GPA of no less than a 2.0 for the semester.
Part-Time Student: Must carry and complete no less than 6 semester hours and maintain a GPA of no less than a 2.0 per semester.
Students enrolled as full-time students (12 hours or more) may be awarded $500; part-time students (under 12 hours) may be awarded $250.
The scholarship committee may award a total of 6 scholarships, not to exceed $2,250 annually.
Prior awardees may not apply for additional Empowering Youth Scholarships.
Awards will be issued by the award date.

Application

Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Two letters of recommendation: one from a caseworker, foster parent, or CASA, AND one from a teacher, coach, or other non-related adult who knows the applicant.
Current transcript showing current GPA or enrollment information for the qualifying scholarship year.

STOP

Make sure you have gathered all the information for the application. Remember all information must be submitted for you to be considered.

Before you continue with the application below:

Open an email and address it to scholarship@tffa.org
In the subject line, title the email “Scholarship Application – YOUR NAME”

Attach all of the following to the email:

A copy of your scholarship application
One letter of recommendation from a caseworker, foster parent, or CASA representative.
One letter of recommendation from a teacher, coach, or other non-related adult who knows you
Current transcript showing current GPA or enrollment information for the qualifying scholarship year

After clicking on the button above, a Google doc will open containing our application. It will ask you to create a copy of the original. Please change the title of the document to your name. All items necessary to complete your application should be sent in a separate email as directed above.

If you are unable to open the Google link in the button above, please go to the “Contact” menu at the top of the page, then “Let Us Hear From You”. Click on the button found within that page and an PDF version of the scholarship application can be sent to you.