Frequently Asked Questions

We would love to help you! Setting up a scholarship through the Foundation is easy. We are happy to walk you through the process and answer any questions that you might have. Please click here to email our president, Michelle Wyrwa or visit our Create a Scholarship Page.

Scotch Plains and Fanwood residents who are graduating seniors attending public or private high schools, and current college students who plan to attend accredited post-high school institutions including two- and four-year colleges, and business, technical, and vocational schools within the United States are invited to apply. 

When the on-line application is available in December, there will be detailed instructions for submission.  Please click here for the application.

There seems to be a firewall issue with SPFHS student email accounts that may prevent students from accessing our current application. Please try accessing the google form directly on our website using a non-SPFHS student email account (your personal email account). That should do the trick. If not, try clearing your web page cache. If you still can’t access the application after following these suggestions, please email the screening chair at spfsfapplication@gmail.com. 

The transcript request form was created and is managed by the SPFHS guidance department, so we can’t troubleshoot the form on our end. If you run into this error message, please just email Teresa Carvalho in the guidance department at tcarvalho@spfk12.org to request that the guidance department release your transcript to us, then you can mark that you have requested the transcript to be sent to us on the application question and proceed with completing the application. 

Upon submission of your application, you will receive an email confirmation of submission which includes a link to click on if you wish to make changes to your application responses. Changes may be made up until 5:00 pm on February 7, 2025. If there are changes in your intended major or activities after February 7th, please click here to email our screening chair, or reach out at spfsfapplication@gmail.com. 

ALL required tax documentation must be submitted or the applicant will only be considered for Non-Financial Need-based scholarships.

Parents/guardians may choose to submit required financial documentation in one of three ways: 

1. Attach all redacted documentation electronically to the Need-Based Scholarship Eligibility Form.
2. US Mail to SPF Scholarship Foundation, P.O. Box 123, Fanwood, NJ  07023. Documentation must be received by February 7, 2025. Please allow ample time for post office delivery.
3. Drop hard copies into the SPF Scholarship Foundation mailbox at the SPFHS Counseling Office.  All tax documentation should be in a sealed envelope with the Applicant’s name on the envelope.  Documentation must be received by February 7, 2025 at 3 pm.

 One of our most commonly-asked questions is what defines a “need-based” scholarship and why we require evidence of financial need. While we would love to give a definitive “income cutoff” type of answer, it’s really not that simple.

There are many factors taken into consideration when determining “need”. We do not use the same formula as colleges and universities using FAFSA and/or CSS information. Family income is a large part of our consideration, but we realize that income alone may not show the entire picture.

Other factors that may be considered when determining need include, but are not limited to, family medical expenses/illness, loss of income, number of children and family/educational expenses for siblings, and expenses associated with caring for other family members.

We encourage anyone in doubt as to whether or not they may qualify to apply for need-based scholarships by including financial documentation with their application. If you do not qualify for need-based scholarships, you will still be considered for any non-need scholarships for which you meet the criteria. However, if you do not apply for need-based scholarships and/or do not supply the required supporting financial documentation, you cannot be considered for them.

Students applying for Financial Need-based scholarships administered by the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Scholarship Foundation must provide the email address of the parent/guardian that claims them on their tax returns.  The Screening Committee Chairperson will request income documentation for verification purposes from the parent/guardian. 

Income documentation includes, but is not limited to: copies of the first two pages of both parents’/legal guardians’ 2023 or 2024 Federal Form 1040, W2(s), 1099(s) and Schedule K-1, if applicable. If you received unemployment, please include your 1099-G Form. 

All tax documents will be viewed solely by the Screening Committee Chairperson for the purpose of verifying financial need. In rare cases, consultation with the Scholarship Foundation President may be necessary.  

If income documentation is not submitted by application deadline, applicant will only be eligible for Non-Financial Need-based scholarships.   

If parents/guardians filed taxes separately, copies of each 2023 or 2024 Federal Income Tax form, W-2s, 1099 and Schedule K-1 are required if available. 

A number of our scholarships require evidence of financial need as part of their criteria. As such, we require financial documentation to verify that applicants are qualified for these awards.

It is our responsibility to our scholarship donors to ensure that we are selecting applicants that best meet their criteria, and verification is a part of that process. If applicants do not wish to be considered for financial need-based scholarship, inclusion of financial documentation is not necessary.

Please be assured that your financial information is viewed only by the screening committee chairperson and the president of the Foundation for the purposes of verifying financial need. No other screening committee members or board members will have access to this portion of your application. Your information is kept strictly confidential.

All applicants (those applying for need and non-need scholarships) are asked to complete the Educational Financing Information section of the application. This helps the committee understand how applicants and their families plan to finance their education.

We appreciate the trust that you place in our organization and take your privacy very seriously. Your application is seen only by our screening committee members. Your financial information is seen only by the screening committee chairperson and the president of the Foundation for the purpose of verifying financial need. We require all screening committee and Foundation board members to sign a confidentiality agreement. 

Funds made or received (as gifts) when the applicant is in high school and put into savings for use in college would be considered savings. Funds that the student or parent anticipate earning while the student is in college and using towards their contribution would be considered earnings.  

Our screening committee wants to get to know you, and your personal essay is a great way for us to do so! Your essay should answer the following:

How have your academic aspirations and character been impacted by your activities, experiences, and relationships?

In answering this question, your essay should include information about the following as they pertain to you: goals and plans for the future; interests and activities that you feel are significant in your life; employment experience, including the use of earnings (if employment is through a family business, indicate whether compensation is received); and extenuating family circumstances or information including illness, job loss, or any additional circumstances. 

Essays should be approximately 1,000 words, however, some of our best essays have been shorter or longer than that! Essays should be formatted as Times New Roman 12-point font. Your full name should appear as a header in the top right-hand corner of each page.

Supplemental Essays
Some of our scholarships require submission of a supplemental essay and/or letters of recommendation in order to be considered. These requirements can be found in the individual scholarship descriptions found on our website here. These requirements are also found on the electronic scholarship application.

Additional Essay Information
The font for all essays should be 12-point Times New Roman font. The applicant’s name should appear on each page of the essay. Supplemental essays should also include the name of the scholarship on each page.

We encourage you to select a non-relative adult who knows you well and with whom you interact often, preferably from an academic, working or service environment.

We are often asked who the best person is to ask to write your letter of recommendation, and to be honest, that is an impossible question to answer.

The best advice that we can give is for you to choose someone who truly knows you and what you are about. That could be a favorite teacher, a club or service advisor, your guidance counselor, a coach, an employer, or a close family friend.

Our main goal in asking for a letter of recommendation is to get to know you better by hearing from those who know you best. Only you can determine who that might be.

The best letters of recommendation are those where there is a strong connection between the applicant and the writer of the letter which tends to make the letter more personal, so keep that in mind when making your decision.