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Scholarships

Current CNC Machining Students ONLY apply here

The CNC Machining Scholarship Application is for those students who started in the program on November 7, 2022, and will complete the program June 19, 2023. Any other interested CNC Machining Students will be able to apply May 8, before the next cohort starts.

 

"Best Chance" for an RVC Foundation Scholarship, whether Career and Technical or Liberal Arts and Sciences, happens this spring. Create your scholarship account now.

We've made a few changes to the coming scholarship season. There will be only one spring application period, no matter what program you are in. You have 5 and a half weeks to complete your application for scholarships for fall 2023.  If you cannot get everything completed by April 24, there will be a "Last Chance" application period in the fall.

 

Applications are open! Apply NOW!

 

Dates to Remember

  • Application period January 30 through March 9 at 11:59 PM
  • Preliminary offers emailed on or before April 13, 2023
  • Offers accepted, thank you letter uploaded, registration complete, and financial aid process finished by April 24 at 11:59 PM
  • Final offers emailed May 4, 2023

 

group of students outside by wall

Scholarship Application Information

When the scholarship application closes, you can still access information about the scholarship process.

Applying for a scholarship?

Here's how to get ready:

1. Wait for the date! Do not apply early.

All applicants – DO NOT APPLY EARLY. Your submitted application must fall on or after the opening date of your application period. In other words, applications submitted before January 30 will not be included in the pool of qualified applications.

2. File the FAFSA, complete the process!

All applicants – complete the FAFSA for the 2023-2024 academic year as soon as possible, even if you know you don’t qualify for a Pell Grant.  We base need on your ability to complete the process, NOT on your Pell Grant eligibility. For those who cannot qualify for federal financial aid, there are questions on the application for you to indicate your situation. Once you complete your FAFSA, complete the RVC Financial Aid office’s Form 1. Check your Self Service account for items in your “Financial Aid Missing Documents” folder.

3. Those focused on a career in engineering

If you are an RVC engineering student, complete the engineering application’s required fields. We have plenty of scholarships available for ALL engineering disciplines. 

If you are an NIU@RVC Mechanical Engineering student and have been accepted at NIU, you must also provide your NIU “Z” number, NIU student email address, a copy of your Financial Aid letter from NIU for the 2023 - 2024 school year, and a copy of your unofficial transcript. Be sure you've registered for classes before downloading your unofficial transcript. Please note that the NIU@RVC program is only for students pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and who will be attending classes on the Rock Valley College campus. No other engineering degree is acceptable, including the “online only” BS in Applied Manufacturing Technology.

4. Those focused on a career in a health field

If you are planning a career in a health field, you will now have an additional application with questions pertaining to your particular focus. There are applications that coincide with RVC's three applied science degrees: Nursing, Respiratory Therapy, and Dental Hygiene, as well as an application for all other health careers, such as Pharmacist, Veterinarian, Doctor, Surgeon, Psychiatrist, etc. The choice you make in answer to the "Major" question on the general application will determine which conditional health career application will be open to you. You may complete only one.

5. Those focused on a career anywhere but engineering or health

Complete the General Application, reading all questions carefully, and paying particular attention to the Personal and Education Statements. If you're not sure, contact the Foundation! We're always willing to answer any question you may have.

Thank You Letters

  • A properly written thank you letter to your donor(s) is mandatory. 
  • Donor "Thank You" Letter Instructions with Samples (PDF) – This document was created to make the process as easy as possible for you. Please read the instructions and check out the sample thank you letters shown.

About RVC Foundation Scholarships

RVC Foundation Scholarships are provided by donors who believe in your right to receive a good education at a quality institution. Many of them are alumni of Rock Valley College, others are your neighbors, friends and employers, and still more believe in the Rockford community as a whole and know that education is the key to economic growth. Whatever their reasons, our donors are passionate people. Some make big gifts that will fund a scholarship for years to come, others make small gifts month after month, year after year. They all have one goal in mind – to give you a chance at a brighter future.

Be a student in good standing (2.0 cumulative GPA and 67% completion rate), complete the financial aid process at RVC or NIU, and register for fall classes. That’s it. This does not mean you’ll be matched with every scholarship the RVC Foundation offers, but you will match many of them. And finally, write out your statements ahead of time. Put some thought into them. Remember, you are not writing a text message! Your statements are the way that the donor and the scholarship committee get to know you. You’ll need 3 of them: 1) What it will mean to you if you should receive an RVC Foundation Scholarship; 2) Your education and career goals; and 3) Financial information that you are willing to share.

Both the preliminary award email and the final award email will be sent to your RVC student email account. It is your responsibility to monitor your RVC student email account. Any email we send will come from RVC-Foundation@rockvalleycollege.edu. Please add our email to your contacts list. We also require that you provide a textable cell number for notification purposes. You may also provide a personal email address. 

It depends. The more information you provide, the better matched you’ll be to multiple scholarships. See above. In general, unless a donor has specified a particular dollar amount, scholarships are awarded based on how many credits you will be taking in the fall, your official student status (freshman, sophomore) and your GPA.

At the top of the RVC Foundation scholarship web page is a list of important dates. Check your RVC student email account when those dates occur. NOTE: Even though we make every attempt to get all notices out to applicants as stated, there is a chance that our scholarship provider will hold the emails in a queue and release them in the middle of the night. You may not see your notice until the next day.

Your scholarship award will be posted to your financial aid account shortly after you receive your final award notice. The date will be provided within that notice. This allows you to see the balance of tuition owed and make arrangements for payment. However, the funds will not be released to you until after the 10th day of classes, in either fall or spring semester. As long as your scholarship shows as "pending", you have nothing to worry about. If there's any other message by the scholarship name, please contact the Foundation office at RVC-Foundation @rockvalleycollege.edu so that we may investigate and make sure your funds go through.

 

Call us at (815) 921-4500 for the Foundation office, or (815) 921-4506 to reach the scholarship manager. We all love to talk to students, and will be happy to answer your questions and help you through the process. You can also email RVC-Foundation@RockValleyCollege.edu.

Scholarship Searches

In addition to applying for an RVC Foundation scholarship, we also suggest you seek out additional scholarship opportunities. We do not recommend that you pay anyone to find a scholarship or financial assistance for you. This information is available to you for free online.

Some helpful scholarship websites include:
  • Foundation Scholarship Testimonials