Scholarship Information and Application

Scholarship Instructions, Timeline, and Application (PDF)

Scholarship applications must be mailed by the postmark deadline of April 15th!

The Saratoga Springs Rotary Club invites high school seniors who attend Saratoga Springs High School (including students at the Myers BOCES campus), Saratoga Central Catholic High School, and the Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs to apply for scholarships. Scholarships are available to graduating seniors who are pursuing four-year college degrees, two-year college degrees, and post-secondary vocational education.

The Saratoga Springs Rotary Club awards roughly one dozen scholarships each year, with a combined worth of more than $40,000. The value of the individual scholarships ranges from $1,500 upward. The application for all scholarships is the same. The Scholarship Committee will determine the appropriate award for each scholarship finalist.

Most of the scholarships are awarded to students showing great promise as future leaders, as demonstrated by overall excellence in academics and extracurricular activities, and initiative or leadership in social service, volunteer, or work activities. These scholarships include:

The Presidential Scholarship - $16,000 total ($4,000 per year for four years)

Endowed Scholarships (amount varies, unless noted)

The George Pierce Memorial Scholarship

The Philly Dake Scholarship

The Adirondack Trust Company Scholarship in Honor of Jane Adams Wait

The Alfred Z. Solomon Memorial Scholarship - $5,000

The Edward A. Lenz Scholarship

The endowed scholarships are supplemented by funds given by corporate and individual donors.

Three scholarships are available to students pursuing a specific course of study:

- Performing arts

- Fine arts

- Hospitality and its allied arts

The Rotary Club of Saratoga Springs Foundation

To address the ever-increasing costs of college and post-secondary vocational education, the Saratoga Springs Rotary Club originally created a fund to provide financial scholarships to deserving senior students attending Saratoga Springs schools. Money for the project was raised through the club's major fund raiser, the annual Rotary Home & Garden Show, held at the City Center each winter.

As college and post-secondary costs continued to outpace inflation, the Rotary Club determined it needed a better vehicle for raising money to fund larger scholarships. In 1996, the Club applied to the IRS for a 501(C) (3) tax-exempt designation for its scholarship program. That request, and an approval from Rotary International, was granted in 1997. Since then, funding from the Home Show has been supplemented by private and corporate donations, and by another annual fundraiser, the Educational and Community Leader Awards Brunch held in the fall.