University Scholarships

Most colleges and universities award scholarships that are privately funded or with money acquired from donations. Schools award scholarships that can be as small as $100 or even full scholarships that include room and board, and they can be given to a wide variety of students. Western Illinois University is one institution that offers over 500 scholarships to its students. Over $2 million in university scholarships were given out by Western Illinois University last year alone. Many of the scholarships are small specialized scholarships that are aimed at students with various interests and talents. The Tillman Scholarship and the Ann Collins Jazz Piano Scholarship are just two examples of the awards that can be found at universities.

The Tillman Scholarship is available to students who are transferring from another four year college or a community college with 30 credit hours accumulated when they apply for the scholarship. 48 credit hours must be earned before enrolling at Western Illinois University. This university scholarship is for students majoring in geography with at least 3 credit hours of geography earned before applying and 6 hours earned before enrolling. To apply for the Tillman scholarship students need to obtain a letter of recommendation from a geography teacher at their first college. The Tillman Scholarship is $500 and can be renewed if the student remains full time, studying geography, and maintains a GPA of 3.0.

The Ann Collins Jazz Piano Scholarship is a Western Illinois University scholarship for music majors who have a 3.0 GPA or higher. Qualified students must be gifted musically and be able to play jazz piano. The $1,000 scholarship can be renewed yearly as long the student excels as a jazz pianist.

Information regarding additional university scholarships at WIU can be obtained from the Scholarship Office Staff.