Kalamazoo County residents* are eligible for tuition, fees, and books. Students do not need to be a current KZCF scholarship student. They can be an existing student, or just enrolling in their program.

*A resident of Kalamazoo County is defined as a person whose primary home is in Kalamazoo County. If the individual has come to Kalamazoo from outside the county to pursue higher education, one year must have passed since their graduation, or since they were last enrolled. WMU, K College or KVCC students who have come to school from outside the county for the purpose of attending school, whether they live on or off-campus, are not considered Kalamazoo residents.

No. Applicants must be post-secondary. A student is considered post-secondary if they are no longer pursuing a high school degree, regardless of whether they graduated/have a diploma. Individuals pursuing a GED are considered post-secondary.

This list will continue to evolve. Examples include:

• Tuition for the purpose of meeting a requirement, need, or obtaining a degree, license or certification
• Assistance with driver’s education for employment purposes
• Testing fees for CNA, etc.
• Required yearly credits to retain Michigan Teaching License
• A skill-building course for the purpose of obtaining employment (e.g. Microsoft Office)
• A course that would be needed to obtain a raise/promotion
• Any degree, certification, or license, including skilled trades
• Tuition owed that is preventing students from enrolling/attending
• GED test fees

Course materials:

• Lab fees
• Textbooks
• Technology (clickers, online codes, calculators, Chromebooks)
• Scrubs for CNAs, and any equivalent uniform for other majors

• Classes for personal enjoyment or enrichment
• high school ACT/SAT testing fees
• high school students taking college courses
• any course that can be attended for free at an alternate venue
• exercise classes
• KIA art classes, etc.
• rental assistance
• personal expenses, such as household bills and insurance payments

The application, which is entirely online, is available through our website. Applicants must be able to demonstrate the request is an emergency* by one of the following criteria:

It is an expense they cannot cover, and, if not met, may cause them to:

• Stop attending school short of graduation
• Not have the materials necessary for success in courses
• Lose their job due to lack of necessary skills/certifications

It is an education-related expense that has the potential to:

• Help them obtain employment (whether that be skills, transportation, etc.)
• Increase their income (moving into a more lucrative field, or promotion in the current field)
• Maintain employment

*Applying via the Remynse or general application and not receiving funding does not constitute an emergency.

The application will remain open until the emergency funds are no longer available. Apply as soon as you have an educational funding emergency! Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Students can receive no more than $2,000 within a 24-month period. Students who have received the maximum award must wait 2 years before applying again.

The maximum scholarship amount is $2,000. The hope is to spread the fund balance out to assist as many students as possible.

A scholarship advisory committee made up of interested community members selected by KZCF staff.

It can be up to two weeks before a completed application is reviewed by the committee. It can be longer if the application is missing necessary documentation, or the committee requests additional clarity.

KZCF directly pays scholarships to institutions and purchases items for recipients. We communicate with students to make sure we have the necessary information to process payments and purchases. Emergency scholarships are not paid to recipients.

Yes. Once the committee has made their funding decisions, they will forward that information to the KZCF Scholarship team, who will record decisions and relay information to all applicants, regardless of being funded or not.

Yes, current KZCF scholarship recipients are eligible to apply for emergency funding.