02/06/2023-We are excited to announce the Jimmie L Dean Scholarship Foundation is now taking applications for the 2023 – 2024academic year through April 30, 2023 at our website www.
Every year since 2009, we have provided individual scholarships of up to $10,000 per year to outstanding Oklahoma students who attend Oklahoma colleges and Universities. During that time we have provided over $1.2 million of support.
Our mission is to provide financial assistance to Oklahoma students who will attend Oklahoma colleges and universities that we feel will remain in out great state after graduation and contribute to the Oklahoma economy for many years.
This award does not consider income levels, hardship conditions, or a specific entrance test score (although we do require a minimum 20 ACT score for 4 year colleges and Universities and 17 for OSUIT students and do take into consideration the test score when trying to project a student’s success in their chosen major area of study). We are simply looking for true Oklahomans who may find themselves in the position of not having sufficient funds to attend college but have income levels that preclude them from receiving enough financial assistance to cover their costs of attendance.
Our awards are structured in a manner to fill in the gap between the scholarships and awards already earned by a student and the cost of tuition and academic fees plus room and board charges, with the goal to eliminate or reduce the need for student debt.
The qualities we are looking for are students who are responsible citizens who have worked hard and have achieved good academic standing. We view a student’s work history, their expected major, their academic achievement and recommendations from those they have been associated with as a body of work to eventually make our decision as to who will receive an award.
Our application form provides an avenue for a short student essay to allow them to introduce themselves to our foundation. We rely upon this to help select our finalists each year. We encourage you to communicate to prospective students they take this opportunity very seriously. You would be surprised as to how many essays simply state the students need for money or tell us about the other members of their family but really nothing about themselves. In all candor we already know they need money or they would not be applying and telling us about family members is only relevant if it provides insight into the student. We want to know about the student, what jobs they have held, what would make them a good investment for us, and how do they exemplify the qualities of the Foundation.
Our awards are primarily awarded to students who will be pursuing degrees that are science related rather than arts majors. Therefore, some of the majors we will not consider are music, performing arts, english, literature, psychology, sociology, journalism, business, pre-law, political science or similar majors. In short, we are looking for students who are wanting to make or build things or serve in a health science field.
Please email us if you have any questions and feel free to visit our website for more information.
Thank you for helping shape our students and preparing them for success.
