College of Arts & Sciences

Church Scholarship Program

Which church scholarship programs qualify for Partnership Program matching scholarships?

Selection Criteria

Your church has great flexibility in establishing a scholarship program that will qualify for matching grants under the Partnership Program. Criteria for student selection may be as general or as specific as the church desires. You may restrict your awards to students who obtain a certain grade point average or students who plan to enter church vocations. Or you may divide your scholarships among all qualifying students. Some churches only make scholarships available to students who will attend Bethel, while others may open the program to students attending any Christian college or Bible college, or any college that offers to match the church scholarship. Church scholarship amounts may be the same for each student, or a church may award higher amounts to certain students reflecting either need or merit. Bethel requires that the church scholarship is a true scholarship, meaning the student recipient need not work for or repay the church scholarship.

Formal Church Approval

To qualify for matching funds from Bethel, a church scholarship program must be approved by either the church governing board or by the membership in a business session. This prohibits an individual from simply giving a gift that passes through the church books. Your church's approval of a scholarship program will enhance the visibility of the program and lead to increased awareness, support, and prayer commitment for your students at Bethel.

Funding Sources

Ideally, funding for scholarships should be provided by a line item in the church budget. Another excellent funding source is earnings from endowed funds. Some churches have decided that all memorial money received by the church that is not otherwise designated will go into the scholarship endowment. Each year, earnings from the fund provide the money for scholarships.

A special scholarship fund may be established outside the church budget as long as care is taken to ensure that such a fund is handled properly. To keep the program within government (IRS) regulations and to maintain its integrity, we ask that churches observe three restrictions:

If a special fund is used, gifts from individuals must be made to the fund and not to specific individual students. This protects the deductibility of the donor's gift for tax purposes. It should be the responsibility of the scholarship committee to select the recipients and determine the amount of the awards within church-approved guidelines.
Students and their parents should not benefit from their own giving. Thus, if a special scholarship fund is established, a student may not receive a scholarship from the fund in a year when that student or his/her parents have given to the fund.
A church scholarship may not be a redirection of other funds already in the church budget. Specifically, a portion of the pastor's salary may not be designated a scholarship for his/her children in order to gain matching funds. Nor may payment to a student for work on a summer ministry project be redirected as a scholarship to obtain matching funds.

Questions about the appropriateness of a particular church scholarship program should be addressed to the Office of University Financial Aid at Bethel University.

How can our church establish an ongoing scholarship program?

The church should establish a scholarship program by official action of the governing board or by the membership in a business meeting. The motion should be somewhat general, but should specify the source of funds (budget, memorial funds, or special scholarship fund), the group that is to administer the program, and the general intent of the program. At a small church, scholarship administration responsibilities could be added to the tasks of the Christian Education Board or Committee. At a larger church, a separate scholarship committee should be appointed.

The scholarship committee should develop two documents: a description of the requirements of the scholarship program and an application form. The following samples are offered as a starting point for your church. Of course, you may select other criteria for your church's program.