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Scholarships

2026 BEARTOOTH ELECTRIC $2,500 LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP

APPLICATIONS OPEN: OCTOBER 1, 2025

DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 6, 2026

Please submit both applications and one set of required documents including your personal essay.

Beartooth Electric Leadership Scholarship Application MECA Memorial Scholarship Application

Your Co-op has scholarships for students whose parents/ guardians are served by Beartooth Electric at their primary residence.

Scholarships are available for:

  • Seniors graduating from accredited high schools in the Co-op’s service area.
  • Graduating homeschool student in the Co-op’s service area.

Beartooth Electric Cooperative’s scholarships are funded by unclaimed capital credits. Despite the Co-op’s best efforts to return capital credits to members, many go unclaimed (people move and don’t provide a forwarding address, for example). As a not-for-profit electric cooperative, the state allows Beartooth Electric to use capital credits that go unclaimed for five or more years for educational purposes in our service area, rather than returning them to the Montana general fund

Beartooth Electric Co-op offers over $32,500 in scholarships each year. BEC has increased the individual Leadership Scholarship funding to $2,500 for service area high school seniors planning to continue their education at a vocational school, trade training program, 2-year or 4-year college or university for the 2025 fall term..

In addition, if you are the top-scoring BEC Leadership Scholarship applicant, you will be awarded an additional $1,000 scholarship and go on to represent BEC in the MECA Memorial Scholarship competition.

BEARTOOTH ELECTRIC SCHOLARSHIP REQUIREMENTS:

  1. The Applicant or Parents of candidates must be served by Beartooth Electric Cooperative in their primary residence and hold an active BEC member and account number.
  2. Applicant must enroll or plan to enroll in a vocational school, trade training program, 2-year or 4-year college or university for the fall of 2026.
  3. Candidates must be in their senior year in high
  4. Candidates must present a completed application to Beartooth Electric Cooperative with their certified transcripts, including SAT/ACT scores, activities, employment information, a letter of recommendation, and a written personal statement essay by the deadline.
  5. Scholarship funds are paid directly to the school where the student is enrolled. Checks are mailed to the college’s financial aid office in July, as noted in the application.

YOUR BEC APPLICATION WILL BE JUDGED BASED ON THE FOLLOWING COMPONENTS:

  • Academic strength — 15%
  • Activities/Honors — 15%
  • Employment/Volunteerism/Community — 20%
  • Financial Need — 50%

Complete the application and submit the required documents to Beartooth Electric before February 14, 2025. You may mail your submission to Beartooth Electric Cooperative, Inc., Attn: Scholarship, PO Box 1110, Red Lodge, MT 59068, email to bec@beartoothelectric.com, or drop it off at our Red Lodge office at 1306 N. Broadway Ave. Don’t forget to email a digital photo when you turn in your submission (bec@beartoothelectric.com).

To get you started on your essay, here are a few award-winning examples. Take a look and get your application in for a great scholarship opportunity!

2026 MECA MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

APPLICATIONS DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 6, 2026

https://www.beartoothelectric.com/wp-content/uploads/Memorial-Scholarship-Application-2026.pdf

The winning essay from the BEC Leadership Scholarship competition will win an additional $2,500 Scholarship from Beartooth Electric Cooperative and be named the MECA Memorial Scholarship candidate.

Annually, MECA (Montana Electric Cooperatives’ Association) awards (1) one $500 scholarship to a deserving student in each of MECA’S four districts who will be attending college in the fall.

BEC applicants, please be sure to submit the completed MECA Memorial Scholarship Application along with the BEC Leadership Scholarship Application and supporting documents.

NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP-YOUTH TOUR ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP

ARE YOU A PREVIOUS BEARTOOTH ELECTRIC YOUTH TOUR REPRESENTATIVE? THEN THIS SPECIAL SCHOLARSHIP MAY BE FOR YOU!

The Glenn English National Cooperative Leadership Foundation encourages educational advancement by awarding high-education scholarships to eligible students who have shown a commitment to the Seven Cooperative Principles. Each year, one $10,000 scholarship (distributed in two $5,000 installments) will be awarded to a student working on their first bachelor’s degree program. For more information including how to apply, click here.

Eligibility: An applicant must:

  • Be a US citizen
  • Have participated in NRECA’s Youth Tour program
  • Have received academic credits equal to at least one year of college
  • Have completed at least one semester at an accredited university or college as a full-time student
  • Enrolled as a full-time student at an accredited university or college by the application deadline.
  • Students must be working on completing his/her first undergraduate degree

*Individuals pursuing a second undergraduate degree and/or any higher degrees are not eligible to apply for the scholarship.

ADDITIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS

Check out other scholarships at Home | Find Scholarship Programs | Kaleidoscope (mykaleidoscope.com)