Jane Calmes ALS Scholarship Fund

The purpose of the scholarship fund is to provide financial assistance to students pursuing an accredited college degree or vocational certificate, and whose ability to cover the costs is severely compromised as a result of their family’s financial burden of ALS.

The program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarships and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations, and individuals. Eligibility for individual programs is determined at the sole discretion of the sponsor and eligible applications are reviewed by Scholarship America’s evaluation team.

Eligibility

Applicants to The Jane Calmes Scholarship Fund must meet all of the following criteria:

• Be an individual who has had their finances impacted by having been diagnosed with ALS themselves, or a parent/guardian or immediate family member* (living or deceased) having been diagnosed with ALS.
• Be a high school senior, graduate, or current postsecondary undergraduate.
• Plan to enroll a minimum of 6 credits per semester in undergraduate study at an accredited two- or four-year college, university, or vocational-technical school for the entire upcoming academic year in pursuit of completing a degree program.
• Be a U.S. Citizen of the United States of America.

*Immediate family member refers to an individual’s parent/guardian, spouse, siblings, parents’ spouses, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and children (including step children and adopted children) and their spouses.

Awards

If selected as a recipient, the student will receive:

• An award in the amount of $5,000. Awards are to be applied $2,500 per semester.

Awards are for undergraduate study only.

Awards are not renewable. Applicants may apply each year they meet the eligibility criteria.

Notification

All applicants will be notified of their status in July. Potential recipients will be requested to submit a diagnosis verification form from a physician, an affidavit (if family member is deceased), or other approved documentation.

Payment of Scholarships

Scholarship America processes payment in August.

Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:

• Academic record
• Demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
• Work experience
• Statement of educational and career goals and objectives
• Description of financial implications of having a family member with ALS
• An online recommendation*

*The Online Recommendation should be from a teacher, advisor, or community leader that knows the student. Recommendations do not need to come from the ALS Association.

Financial need will be considered and recipients must demonstrate need.  Applicants will be asked to upload their, or their parent/guardian’s, most recent tax return.

Selection of recipients is made by Scholarship America. All applicants agree to accept the decision as final.

Required Documents

As part of your application, you must upload the following documents:

• A current, complete transcript of grades. Grade reports are not accepted. Unofficial or online transcripts must display student name, school name, grades and credit hours for each course and term in which each course was taken.
• A copy of the first two pages of the most recently filed IRS Form 1040 used for the Financial Information Page (Please black out SSN).

NOTE: If you are providing SAT or ACT test scores, and those scores are not listed on your high school transcript, you will need to upload a copy of your test score report(s) separately. If you are uploading a college transcript, those scores are not required.