Applications for scholarships for the upcoming academic year (academic years starting in the fall) must be submitted online by February 1 of that same year. 2024-2025 academic year applications will be available to complete at ‘doylefound.org’ beginning November 1, 2023. To apply for a scholarship for the 2024-2025 academic year, applications, additional documents, and letters of recommendation must be submitted by February 1, 2024. NO EXCEPTIONS. Due to the large volume of applications received, only those applicants receiving a scholarship will be notified. Students receiving a scholarship will be notified by email by April 15 of each year.
2. What are the criteria for applying for this scholarship?
Refer to the qualifying schools page. You must meet the qualifying school criteria to apply for this scholarship. Scholarship recipients attend vocational or trade schools, community colleges, career technical education (CTE) programs, state, public, or private universities, and schools outside of California and Nevada. Both undergraduate and graduate students may apply.
3. What is requested in the application process?
To apply, you must meet the qualifying school criteria (see #2 above). If you meet the qualifying school criteria, you may choose the “Apply for a Scholarship” button and create a new account each year. A complete application includes a signed legal contract, a completed application form including a personal essay, school transcripts from all academic institutions attended (UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS ARE ACCEPTED), the applicant’s Student Aid Report (SAR) from FAFSA, financial aid information, and a budget/cost of attendance form from each school listed on the application. Applicants are also asked to request two letters of recommendation, submit a work experience form and a school/community activities form. All forms are available within the application menu. Applicants who received this scholarship last year do not have to re-submit some of the documents. See #18-20 below.
4. What does “restricted scholarship” mean?
This scholarship is selective, restricted, & each student’s scholarship is unique. Scholarship funds are for one year only and may only be used for specific educational expenses. Financial aid may affect the amount of the scholarship that can be used. All scholarship recipients are required to make payment requests and submit additional documents for the scholarship to be paid. Additional details will be provided to all scholarship recipients.
5. Why does the application ask if I received this scholarship before?
All applicants are required to submit all application documents with the following exception: If an applicant received a scholarship from The Doyle Foundation, Inc. for 2023-2024, some documents will not need to be re-submitted and will not show on the application form once the initial fields are completed. If an applicant received a scholarship from this Foundation more than one academic year ago (prior to 2023-24), the applicant is required to complete and upload ALL application documents.
6. What is a Student Aid Report (SAR) from FAFSA?
The Student Aid Report (SAR) is generated by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The Student Aid Report provides validated information to assist organizations in making decisions about a student’s financial aid. See Sample SAR. A SAR “summary form” is not an acceptable substitution for the actual SAR. When applying, upload all pages of your SAR as one document, not as separate pages.
7. What is financial aid award information?
Your financial aid award information can be found by logging into your school’s online student portal, or by contacting your school’s financial aid office. The document can be a screenshot, but it must show your name, a current date (within 30 days of submission), and a list of all the financial aid you accept or decline. Documents that do not show all of this information will not be accepted. This document is required to apply and updated information will be required if you are awarded a scholarship. You must submit this information even if you do not receive or accept any financial aid. Summer term financial aid information is usually included in the previous academic year’s information, not the following year.
8. How do I know if I uploaded my documents correctly?
If you see your documents’ names in the correct upload fields, you have successfully uploaded them. You may upload new application documents until February 1, as long as you have not submitted your application and forms. Unofficial transcripts can be submitted with your application.
9. I do not have any work experience and/or school/community activities to list. What should I do?
These forms are optional but we encourage you to submit them to complete your application.
10. How do I submit my letters of recommendation?
Once signed in, applicants will see a letters of recommendation request form. Once completed, it is automatically emailed to the letter authors. The letter author receives the request by email and then directly uploads the letter which attaches to your scholarship application. Advise letter authors to check spam/junk folders for the request. If and only if an institution’s email system blocks the request, letters can be emailed to info@doylefound.org ONLY FROM THE LETTER AUTHOR DIRECTLY. Advise the letter author to enter your name in the email subject line. Deadline for letter of recommendation submissions is also February 1. NO EXCEPTIONS.
11. How do I know if I completed and submitted my application?
Once you have filled out the application, complete your work experience, school/community activities, and letters of recommendation request forms. You must choose “Submit” by February 1. No changes can be made to the application or other forms after you submit them, or after February 1. We encourage you to print or save your application and other forms.
12. If I did or did not receive a scholarship from the Foundation, can I reapply the following year?
Yes. There is no limit to how many times an applicant can apply for this scholarship.
13. Do I have to apply on the website or can I mail/email my information?
Visit the applications page to sign up to apply. 2024-25 academic year scholarship applications will be open November 1, 2023 through February 1, 2024 only. NO EXCEPTIONS. Emailed and mailed documents will not be accepted.
14. If I don't receive my FAFSA SAR or transcript(s) by the deadline, can I mail or email them later?
No. ALL documents must be uploaded to your application before the deadline. Emailed or mailed documents will not be accepted.
15. Is this scholarship renewable?
The Doyle Foundation, Inc. scholarships are for one year at a time and do not automatically renew. Applicants must re-apply each year, and may or may not be awarded each year they apply. Each year presents a unique set of applicants and circumstances. The number of scholarships awarded, amounts of awards, and approved educational expenses change each year.
16. I received an email stating my scholarship was paid but the payment doesn't show on my school account. What should I do?
Once you receive an email showing your scholarship payment request is PAID, a paper check is mailed via USPS. Delivery & school processing times appear to be extended due to current remote working conditions. Contact your school to determine check status. The foundation’s policy is to allow 3 weeks for check delivery & processing. If your school states they do not have the check after 3 weeks, contact the foundation and the check will be stopped and replaced.
17. What happened to the Vocational School Scholarships?
There is no longer a separate application for Vocational School scholarships. Applicants who meet the qualifying school criteria are eligible to apply, Scholarship recipients attend vocational or trade schools, community colleges, career technical education (CTE) programs, state, public, or private universities, and schools outside of California and Nevada. Both undergraduate and graduate students may apply.
The remaining questions apply only to 2023-24 The Doyle Foundation, Inc. scholarship recipients who are applying for a 2024-25 scholarship:
18. My payment request portal or last year's scholarship application log-in email and password do not work on this year's scholarship application log-in page. What should I do?
As stated on the scholarship application log-in page, ALL applicants must create a new account in this new system. Choose ‘Sign Up’ to do so. Each year’s scholarship application is a separate system from all previous systems.
19. Is there a separate application for those who received this scholarship in 2023-24?
No. However, fields are automatically modified within the application based on your answers to the first few questions. If you received this scholarship for 2023-24, you will not be required to submit letters of recommendations or a personal essay, but you will be required to submit proof of income and financial information.
20. I received this scholarship in 2023-24 and I am applying again. Do I have to complete the work experience, school/community activities, and letters of recommendation forms?
No. But if you have additional work experience or school/community activities since your previous application, you may add them. If you do not, the forms are optional. You do not have to re-list your previous work experience or activities, or re-submit letters of recommendation.
