Young Christian Leaders Scholarship

Scholarship Sponsored by Daniel P. Buttafuoco & Associates

Overview
Young Christian Leaders (YCL) Scholarships provide monthly awards of $1,000 to qualifying high school seniors and full-time college undergraduates who are recommended by peers, family members, and spiritual leaders and who demonstrate strong character, a commitment to service, and financial need.

Award details
- Each scholarship is paid as a one-time lump sum of $1,000 sent directly to the recipient’s college or university.
- Funds must be used for undergraduate expenses, including tuition, fees, room and board, books, and other college-related costs.
- The scholarship contest year runs September 1 through August 30. A banquet will be held at the close of each contest year to honor award recipients.

Application timing and frequency
- Applications may be submitted once per calendar year. An application must be received by the 15th of the month prior to the month the applicant hopes to be considered (for example, apply by April 15 for the May award).
- Applications received on or before the 15th of a month are reviewed for the upcoming month’s contest. Applications received after the 15th will be held for consideration in the following month (for example, an application received April 16 will be considered for June).
- All application materials required by YCL must be included together in one package. Materials sent separately will not be accepted or returned.

Eligibility
To apply, candidates must meet all of the following:
1. Be a high school senior or a currently enrolled full-time undergraduate student.
2. Be an active member of their local church. College students attending school away from home will be evaluated individually; the Scholarship Committee will confirm membership with the applicant’s home church.
3. Have a minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale from the most recent semester or grading period.
4. Submit an official transcript (from a high school guidance office or college registrar) showing the GPA. Report cards, progress reports, photocopies, faxes, and hand-delivered documents are not acceptable.
5. Be permanently resident in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut. Attendance at an out-of-state school is permitted.

How to submit your application
- Mail all required documents together in a single packet. The Scholarship Committee does not accept materials that are mailed separately, dropped off, hand-delivered, or left at a front desk.
- Send the complete packet to:
Buttafuoco & Associates
Attn: Young Christian Leaders Scholarship
9 Broadman Parkway
Jersey City, NJ 07305
- We recommend sending your packet by certified mail to retain proof of delivery.

Contest rules
- Pastors may recommend an unlimited number of students to the program.
- For any given month, no more than two students from the same church may be included among the top 10 nominees. Over a 12-month span, no single church may have more than 24 nominees selected.
- Voting is conducted only online at www.YCLScholarship.org.
- Each registered voter may cast one vote per day; repeat votes must occur on different days.
- Nominees accumulate points over a 30-calendar-day evaluation period. The monthly evaluation period begins on the 1st day of the calendar month in which the nominee is listed and ends on the last day of that month.
- Once an application is accepted, the applicant is automatically entered into the nominee selection process for the subsequent 12 months.

Selection process
- After applications are accepted, the selection committee reviews submissions and chooses ten nominees for that month’s public voting and scoring.
- At month’s end, nominees are scored across four categories. Each category carries up to 25 points, for a possible maximum score of 100. The two nominees with the highest total points are awarded $1,000 each and will be notified.

Scoring categories (25 points each)
a) Online votes
b) Character
c) Accomplishments / Service
d) Financial need

Example
If Joe Smith is named among the 10 monthly nominees and earns the most online votes, he would receive 25 points for that category. If he then scores 20 points for Character, 22 for Accomplishments/Service, and 21 for Need, his total would be 88 points. If that total ranks among the top two scores for the month, Joe would receive the $1,000 scholarship.

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