Rogers Public Schools Community Scholarships

The Rogers Public Schools Community Based Scholarship Program was founded in 1990 by the Rogers-Lowell Chamber of Commerce and the Rogers Public Schools. It was created to provide financial assistance to our graduating seniors pursuing higher education.  Unless otherwise stated in the individual scholarship's criteria, applicants must be graduating high school seniors of the Rogers Public School District, Rogers, Arkansas and plan to attend an accredited vocational school, college or university in the fall following their senior year.

Scholarship awards range from $100 up to $40,000 unless otherwise stated and can only be applied towards the cost of attendance as submitted by your college. Applicants may be eligible for and may receive more than one scholarship award.

Applications must be submitted electronically through the online application system called Smarter Select. Even though each scholarship shares a basic application form, additional documentation may vary based on each specific scholarship requirements.

▶ INFORMATION TO GATHER FOR THE COMMUNITY SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION:

• Estimated Expenses First Year
  • The easiest way to determine this information is to Google “Current total yearly expenses for [Name of Your Future School (ex. University of Arkansas)]” 
• Financial Information
  • You will need a general range of your parent’s income.
  • Your FAFSA Student Aid Report (SAR) is not required for the general application, but if a specific scholarship requires that data, you may need to submit it at a later date.
• School Related Extra-Curricular Activities
• Awards and Honors
• Community Involvement
• Hobbies and Leisure Activities
• Work Experience
  • Please list your work experiences from current to oldest. Specify if a job was summer only.
• References (3) 
  • You will be asked to provide names and contact information for three references – no rec letter required. 
  • Be sure to ask before you list them so they will know that a donor might contact them. 
• Personal Essay 
  • PROMPT: “Write between 350-500 words in which you discuss your plans once you graduate from college. How do you want to make a positive impact with your college education? This is your opportunity to tell us about you as a person!”
  • Take time to write and personalize your essay. Use proper grammar and punctuation. Ask someone to look over your application before you submit it. DO NOT use AI to write your essay – you will be doing yourself a disservice, and there are tools available to determine AI usage.  Remember that this application is the only tool the donors have to make their scholarship decision.
• Parent Statement 
  • This will be your parents’ opportunity to brag on you and offer information about your personal/financial situation that may not be reflected in the application. It can be written in Spanish and translated. It is not required, but it is highly recommended as donors very often use the parent statement in deciding scholarship winners. 

 

▶ REQUIRED UPLOADED DOCUMENTS FOR ALL APPLICANTS:

• Transcript
  • Request a downloadable transcript through your Parchment account. 
    • If you do not have a Parchment account, email instruction from your high school was sent to you the summer before your senior year. You might want to look back through your school emails.
    • Do not take a screenshot on your HAC account. You will need to request your full transcript through Parchment.
    • You will need your 7-semester transcript, which will not be available until midway through January.  Your Scholarship Coordinator will send a message when you are clear to request your transcript and upload it into your application.
• Test Scores 
  • As of 2020, students are no longer able to directly download their ACT score as a PDF from their ACT website portal. 
  • To submit your ACT score for this application, take a screenshot of your score in your ACT account. Your name MUST be visible on the screenshot. (If you have only taken the ACT once through school during your Junior year, you do not have an ACT account, and you will need to reach out directly to your school’s registrar for your test results.)
    • How To Take a Partial Screenshot on Your Chromebook: Press Shift + Ctrl + Show windows, then select and drag.
    • The screenshot will download as a PNG onto your computer. The Smarter Select application does not accept files in PNG format. You will need to turn the image into a PDF.  
      • OPTION ONE: Open a blank Google Doc in your Google Drive. Insert or drag the PNG image into the blank Google Doc. Download the blank Google Doc as a PDF. Then you can upload that PDF for online applications.
      • OPTION TWO: Open the PNG screenshot and hit the "PRINT" button. Print the image as a PDF. It should appear as a PDF on your desktop. Then you can upload that PDF for online applications.
• Photo
  • You do not need a professional photo, but please make sure it is a good image of you (not blurry.) Only include yourself in the photo (no group shots.)

▶ COMMUNITY SCHOLARSHIP SELECTION CHECKLIST:

Within your Smarter Select application, you will find an available scholarship checklist. You must put a check mark next to each scholarship you wish to apply to, as this checklist will indicate where your Scholarship Coordinator will send your application. If you do not put a check by the scholarship, your application will not be sent to that donor.

• Pay close attention to the requirements for each scholarship in this guide. Some scholarships only require the community scholarship application. Some scholarships require extra documents - i.e. letter of recommendation, essay, video, additional short Google form, etc.
• You can apply to ALL the scholarships that you meet the requirements for – there is no limit! However, do not go through and check every box. Doing so will only add extra work for your Scholarship Coordinator in determining where to send applications.

▶ REQUIRED UPLOADED DOCUMENTS FOR SPECIFIC SCHOLARSHIPS:

• Upload any extra required documents into the Additional Documents section of your Smarter Select application. Place them in the specific upload spaces provided.  If you do not upload all the required documents, your application will be invalid for that scholarship.
• Label your files in the manner listed in the box below.
• You do not need to upload the same documents multiple times.  For example: if you are applying for multiple scholarships which require one recommendation letter, we can use the same rec letter.

▶ UPLOADING DOCUMENTS:

Where to Upload Documents:

• ➤Smarter Select Community Scholarship Application
  • ➤Required Document Section 
    • Transcript, Test Scores, Photo
  • ➤Additional Document Section
    • All Other Documents for Specific Scholarships

File Formats Accepted: 

• PDF
• JPG
• Videos need to be submitted to your Scholarship Coordinator by email or sharing through Google Drive by the 1/31/26 deadline

How to Label your Uploaded files:

• Please name your documents with your school, last name, first name,  scholarship and item description. Use the following examples:

RHS_Smith_Jane_Transcript.PDF

or

RHS_Smith_Jane_Rotary_Essay.PDF

or 

RHS_Smith_Jane_RecLetter1.PDF

▶ SUBMIT:

Remember to hit submit. You are finished!

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You will be notified before the April 2026 RPS Community Scholarship Ceremony if you will be receiving a scholarship.