Scholarship ShortlistIllinois counties

Shelby County, Illinois: 10 local scholarships and counting

Shelby County has 10 local scholarships in our catalog so far, from 6 sponsors that limit them to students from this part of Illinois. Most run through 2 community foundations, where one application often covers many funds. We keep searching and add new local scholarships as we find them, so this number grows.

$4,200or more
in scholarships written only for students in or from Shelby County. That adds up the 3 of 10 scholarships that publish an amount, one winner each; the rest do not say. Some give more than one.
6
local sponsors, including 2 community foundations and 2 electric and utility co-ops
Mar
most deadlines in March
22
more state scholarships and grants limited to Illinois students

3 big ones to start with

3 of the 10, picked for size and for a deadline you can plan around. The other 7, with every rule, deadline and what each one asks for, are on your student's board.

Shelby Electric Cooperative Scholarship ProgramDeadline March 3, 2027
$2,000
ShelbyFiber Scholarship ProgramDeadline March 3, 2027
$1,000
Power For Progress Scholarships (Southwestern Electric Cooperative)Deadline not posted yet
$1,200
See the other 7 and which ones your student fits

Who gives in Shelby County

Each sponsor counted once, by kind. A community foundation often runs dozens of separate funds through one application, so it can be one sponsor with many scholarships.

Who gives locallySponsorsScholarships
Community foundations25
Electric and utility co-ops23
Memorial funds and other local groups22
All local sponsors610

A school district with its own scholarships

Pana Community Unit School District 8 has 1 scholarship only its own students can apply for. If your student goes to school there, the board asks which one and adds them.

When the deadlines fall

Most of the posted deadlines fall in March. Counted from the 7 scholarships here with a posted date. Local applications often open only a few weeks before they close, so the time to get ready is the fall before.

How Shelby County compares

That is about 3 times as many as the typical Illinois county, which has 4, and ranks tied for 12th of Illinois's 102 counties. On top of the local list, Illinois students can look at 22 state scholarships and grants limited to the state but not to one county, and the national ones. Across Illinois we have found 344 local scholarships in 100 counties. See every Illinois county.

Counties next to Shelby County

All 8 counties that border Shelby County have local scholarships in our catalog too. Some sponsors cover several counties, and a student who lives in one county and goes to school in another can sometimes apply on both sides.

Effingham County (9)Christian County (8)Montgomery County (8)Moultrie County (6)Coles County (5)Macon County (5)Cumberland County (4)Fayette County (2)

What a public college in Illinois costs

A public four-year college in Illinois averaged $14,921 in tuition and fees and $12,293 for a dorm and meals in 2022-23, about $27,214 a year before any aid, more than the national public average of $22,389. That is the newest federal figure published for every state, so today's prices run higher. The homepage works out what is left after Illinois's own state aid for your student's grades and scores, college by college.

The other 7 are on the board.

Answer a few questions and see how many of the 14,000+ scholarships we track fit your student, local ones included. Their own board, with every name, rule and deadline, is $149 for the school year.

See which ones your student fits

30-day refund, no questions asked.

Questions families ask

Why only 3 here?

The full list, with each one's rules and deadlines, is the product. We read each one from the sponsor's own page and recheck it on a schedule, and that work is what the $149 board pays for. The 3 above show the list is real; the board shows which of the 10 your student fits.

Does every student in Shelby County fit all 10?

No. Most local scholarships add their own rules on top of where you live: one high school, a GPA floor, a planned major, a parent who is a member or a customer. The board asks about those once and shows the ones your student fits, with what each one still asks you to check.

How current is this?

Counted from our catalog on November 2, 2026. We add new local scholarships every week, so the numbers here usually go up.

Counts, amounts and deadline months come from each sponsor's own published rules and can change without notice. Totals add one winner of each scholarship; sponsors that do not publish an amount are not counted in the dollar total. A deadline month is from the most recent cycle we could find. College prices are estimates to plan with, not a quote. Confirm anything you act on with the sponsor or the college.