About the Scholarship Program
One of our goals as a cooperative is to support the communities we serve, and investing in our future is one way we accomplish that. We are proud to offer a scholarship program that enables local students to pursue their education goals. The San Patricio Electric Education Trust was established in 1999 to help local students with the expense of higher education and further the co-op’s commitment to giving back to the communities it serves. Since its inception, the San Patricio Electric Education Trust has awarded more than $1,040,000 in scholarships to local students.
Each scholarship awarded is split evenly among the student’s first four semesters of college, provided the student continues to meet the requirements established for the program. After each semester, the student must submit documentation to show they have maintained a GPA of 2.5 or higher, are enrolled as a full-time student and have successfully completed a full-time course load.
Help Support Our Scholarship Program
The success of our scholarship program is dependent on the generous donations of our members. Typical contributions come from retired capital credit checks. Some members choose to give back a portion of their capital credits checks, others automatically allocate their credits to the fund each year and some donate them after estate settlements.
If you would like to donate your capital credits to the scholarship program, please give us a call at 361-364-2220. Your donations help ensure the San Patricio Electric Education Trust will have the funds necessary to continue awarding scholarships for years to come. Thank you for taking an interest in our Youth!
Our scholarship program is also funded in part by unclaimed capital credits. Each year, we make every reasonable effort to locate former members who are owed capital credits. When those members cannot be located, we escheat that money to the state. Then, the state returns a portion of those escheated funds to the San Patricio Electric Education Trust to be used for our scholarship program.
Scholarship Requirements
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The applicant’s parent or legal guardian must be an active member of SPEC and receive electric service at the primary address of the student and parent/guardian.
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Applicants must be high school seniors graduating from a high school or homeschool program located within one of the nine counties served by SPEC.
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Applicants must be of good character, as evidenced by at least three letters or recommendation from the high school they are currently attending, or homeschool equivalent.
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Applicants must provide an official transcript from the school or homeschool program they are currently attending.
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Scholarships are granted to support attendance at a recognized institution of higher education, which could include a college, university, vocational or technical school.
Scholarship applications will be available beginning January 1.
Scholarship Statistics
1043000
Dollars Awarded
20
Years of Scholarships