Seniors have until 4 p.m. on Dec. 15 to apply for one of more than 800 scholarships available through the Frisco Education Foundation. WTV’s Neha Perumalla sat down with Allison Miller, the Director of Frisco Education Foundation and Partners in Education to get the details on the process and what seniors need to know. 

Wingspan: Why is the deadline a three week period?

Miller: “We have found that whether it’s three weeks or three months that  the applicants pretty much have the same trend in when they decide to submit it and complete it and start their application. So three weeks gives them a solid deadline with a time commitment, kind of rallying them to get the application done. ”

Wingspan: How much money is allotted?

Miller: “Last year we awarded over $670,000 to the class of 2017. We should be pretty much on track with that this year. That all depends on our fundraising efforts, our Gary Burns Fun Run is a major component in the deciding factor as well as our other fundraisers and the outside entities that contribute to our scholarship funding.”

Wingspan: How do you think this scholarship money will benefit students in their future career/life?

Miller: “It’s our hope that our scholarship recipients will come back to our community to live, to work, to play, to give back, to pay it forward. We have had several scholarship recipients who have actually sent it checks to fund scholarships for future students.”

Wingspan: How was the opening date of the scholarship decided?

Miller: “We pretty have decided that we’ll keep it the same day every year which is going to be the Monday that we get back from Thanksgiving with the deadline the Friday before we leave for Winter Break that way people can know that there’s a consistent opening and deadline of the application.”

Wingspan: What are the requirements to be selected for the scholarship?

Miller: “The requirements for the scholarship are pretty much across the board. Some are merit based, some are community service and volunteer based, some are college major based, others might be based on what college someone might be attending. Basically the applicants need to include everything they do on their application because the reviewers and the donors are looking for an overall commitment to their college career not just their grades.”

Wingspan: Is there a set limit of applicants selected? Why or why not?

Miller: “We do not have a limit on how many can apply. Our only limitations are funding, so the amount of scholarships that are awarded are directly related to the funding that we have available.”

Wingspan: Who decided who gets what scholarships?

Miller: “We have a blind review process. Everything is electronic, and we have a committee of over a 100 reviewers and readers for the applications. So, those go out to our reviewers and to the allocations committee. They don’t know whose application it is. Names are redacted, so it is a blind fair process. Then we have a rubric in place, and once the reviewing is done then the rubric kicks in and the allocations committee works from the rubric and the application pool.”