Eligibility Requirements
To be considered for the Boettcher Scholarship, you must meet these minimum requirements:
- Be a graduating Colorado high school senior who has lived in Colorado for your full junior and senior years of high school;
- Apply during the fall of what is your final year of high school, even if you are considering taking a gap year after graduation;
- Graduate from a Colorado high school; and
- Be a citizen, legal permanent resident, or lawfully present (including through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)) in the United States
OR
- Meet the requirements and have applied or started the process of applying for citizenship, legal status or lawful presence. (Although students can be in the application process for citizenship, legal status, or lawful presence during the Boettcher selection timeframe, in order to become a Boettcher Scholar, you must provide documentation that shows you have successfully completed the process.)
Please contact scholarships@boettcherfoundation.org or 303.534.1937 if you have questions regarding your eligibility.
The Boettcher Foundation will not release any student’s information to federal officials or anyone else outside of our campus partners unless we receive a subpoena request that we will notify the applicant about first.
For more information, view our “Frequently Asked Questions: Legal Status or Lawful Presence” document.
All qualified students are encouraged to apply, regardless of gender, creed, ethnic origin, race, or sexual orientation. We do not give preference based on a student’s choice of college or university, high school, city of residence or financial need.
Relatives of Boettcher Trustees, officers or employees of the Boettcher Foundation are not eligible.
Selection Criteria
Once you apply, the Boettcher Foundation Scholarship selection committee judges each student on:
- Superior scholastic ability and intellectual curiosity
- Evidence of leadership and involvement
- Service to community and school
- Outstanding character
As a merit-based scholarship, we define merit as “merit of circumstance,” meaning the selection criteria above and more. We care deeply about lived experience and the context in which a student has thrived as a leader, either because of or in spite of personal circumstances. Competitive candidates also demonstrate strong potential for continued leadership and service.
How to Apply
Colorado high school seniors who meet our eligibility requirements are invited to apply directly through our website. The scholarship application process is rigorous and time-intensive, so we encourage you talk to your high school counselor to determine whether you are a competitive candidate. If you are a high school senior, or a sophomore or junior considering applying in a future year, and you’d like to see if the Boettcher Scholarship might be a good fit for you, take one of our competitiveness quizzes below. NOTE: For information about how we are responding to COVID-related complications (including SAT/ACT scores, for which we have made optional for the class of 2022), please visit our FAQs page.
Note: If you do not have a test score to report due to COVID-19, the results of this quiz may not be accurate, so please discuss this scholarship with your high school counselor to determine if you would be a viable candidate.
Applications can be accessed directly through our website on the Scholarship Application page. Applications open in early September and are due no later than 5:00 p.m. on November 1 of your senior year.
Your high school counselor will need to fill out additional forms and submit an official transcript, so we encourage you to be in frequent communication with your counselor to ensure that all deadlines are met. If you were able to take the ACT or SAT, we require your scores to be mailed directly from the testing agency/agencies to the Boettcher Foundation, even if those scores appear on your high school transcript. NOTE: We have decided to move to a test optional application for the class of 2022. Please visit our FAQs page for more details.
Ensuring that all application materials are submitted by the appropriate deadline is your responsibility.
If you make an early decision commitment to an out-of-state institution, you won’t be eligible for a Boettcher Scholarship. Therefore, we encourage you to leave your options open and apply to colleges during the spring admissions timeframe.
View our Colorado scholarship FAQs and resources.