FAQ

How much are the scholarships?
The Tuition Memorial Scholarships and Dual-Credit Tuition Memorial Scholarships are up to 100% of tuition and included fees (school fees lumped in with tuition as charged by Colleges, Universities and/or Trade Schools such as parking, computer access, security, activity center, etc.). The Textbook Memorial Scholarships are up to 100% of the textbook costs. We can NOT pay for housing or meals as part of any scholarship.

What does “Up to 100%” mean?
This is two-fold. First, all scholarships are dependent on availability of funds. Second, we consider any other financial aid you may be receiving from other sources. For example, if your tuition for a semester is $ 5400.00 and you are also receiving a federal grant in the amount of $ 1200.00 as well as a scholarship from another source in the amount of $ 300.00, your remaining tuition balance will be $ 3900.00 We will pay up to $ 3900.00 depending on the availability of funds if you have been approved for a Tuition Memorial Scholarship.

When are the deadlines for application?
Spring semesters: November 20th prior to the semester; Summer semesters: April 20th prior to the semester; Fall semester and winter intersession: July 20th prior to the semester.

Do you ever accept late applications?
Applications received after the deadlines will not be considered without prior consent from a RLWF Board member and only for the reason of unresolved uploading problems.

What if I’m having problems uploading my application or other documents? Can I just email it to someone?
If you have any difficulty in uploading, please email us so we can try to resolve the issues. We will not accept applications received via email without prior consent from a RLWF Board member and only for the reason of unresolved uploading problems.

This all sounds like your uploading doesn’t work. Can I just email my application to you?
Uploading problems have been rare but they have occurred. If you choose to mail your application and documents to us then we do require that you email us to notify us you have mailed your application. We are trying to move to become paperless as much as possible, reducing the amount of physical mail sent and received assists us in this effort.

What if I keep getting submission errors when I try to upload my application?
If you receive submission errors when trying to upload your application, it is likely that your documents are too large to email. We recommend using www.ilovepdf.com to compress your files to a smaller size which will allow you to submit your application suscessfully.

Why does your upload page say, “We recommend you also upload screenshots of your completed application”?
Occasionally errors occur when acrobat documents are uploaded that were either created in an older version of Adobe or that were created on a particular brand of computers. To ensure we receive your application, we recommend you either scan your completed application and save it as a Word document or take screenshots of your completed application and paste them all into a Word document. Then upload the Word document under “Completed Application” upload space or one of the “Other Additional Information” upload buttons in addition to uploading the Adobe version of the completed application.

When will I know if I have been approved for a scholarship?
We will notify recipients by email within 10 days of the application deadline. If you have been approved, we will require additional information such as copies of tuition bills or information about textbooks (see other FAQ questions regarding tuition bills and textbook information).

How do I know which application to fill out?
If you have never received any scholarships from Randy L Wendt Foundation, then fill out the Initial application for first time applicants. If you have applied before but have never received a Randy L Wendt Foundation Memorial Scholarship, then fill out the Initial application for first time applicants. If you have previously received any kind of scholarship from our organization, then fill out the renewal application for returning applicants.

How do I apply if I’m a High School student taking Dual Credit classes?
You will fill out an Initial Application for first time applicants if you have never received a scholarship from us. If you have received a scholarship in the past, fill out the Renewal Application for returning students. If your Dual Credit class will last the entire school year (first and second semester), then you can check both Fall and Spring on the question which asks for which semester you are applying. If it turns out that you don’t need the scholarship or that you don’t need it for both semesters, just let us know.

What if I have received a scholarship from your organization before but it was several semesters ago?
Fill out the renewal application for returning applicants.

Why do you ask how many other people in my family will be applying for this scholarship and how many will be in high school or college within the next 7 years? Will this affect my application or amount awarded?
These 2 questions will NOT affect your application or possible award amount. This is an information gathering question because we have several groups of recipients that are related.

How do I know which documents to upload?
If you are submitting an initial application for first time applicants then you have several documents to upload. You must upload a copy of your most recent high school and/or college transcript or grades statement that includes your overall GPA. The other requirement has several options but is required to verify that a murder did occur and that neither the victim or applicant were involved in the commission of a crime at the time of the incident. You can choose to upload one or more of the following, but we do require at least one form of verification: Copy of death certificate, copy of police incident report, newspaper article, OR statement from prosecuting attorney showing verification of the murder as fitting within our requirements.
If you are submitting a renewal application, the only additional document you must upload with the application is a copy of your most recent grades. It does not have to be an official transcript. You should be able to print a statement of your grades from your student account online at your school or you can request a statement of your grades from your school. For example, if you are applying for the spring 2017 semester while you are currently enrolled in the fall 2016 semester, then there won’t be any grades available yet for the fall 2016 semester. Submit grades from the most recently completed semester, which would be either the previous summer 2016 or spring 2016 semester.

Why do you say there may be other supplemental information requested?
Depending on the circumstances, we may require proof of the familial relationship between an applicant and the victim. It is also possible that the document uploaded to verify the status of the murder does not include sufficient information to qualify your application under our requirements. We also may later need a copy of your tuition bill or list of textbooks. We will contact you if we need any clarification of anything written on your application or if we require any supplemental information.

Why do you want me to email for verification that you have received my application?
The primary reason for this is so we can begin processing your application as soon as possible, including contacting individuals if we need clarification or additional documentation. Occasionally applicants in the past have had difficulty uploading documents. If there is an error in uploading, we have no way of knowing who attempted to submit an application online. Emailing us for verification is one way of letting us know who you are and finding out if we received your documents for consideration.

How do I know how much to write down for my projected tuition on the application?
Estimate how much you think your tuition will be for the coming semester for which you are applying. If you are approved for a Tuition Memorial Scholarship, we will request that you provide a copy of your tuition bill when you receive it as well as the due date for your tuition.

What about textbooks? How does that work?
When you register for school, most colleges and universities have the syllabus for each class available online. If you are approved for a textbook Memorial Scholarship you can copy the textbook information off the syllabus and email it to us with your preferred shipping address. You will need the title of the book, edition #, author’s name, and IBSN # if it is provided and the name of which class each textbook is required for. We will order your textbooks from Amazon and have them shipped directly to you. To be able to fund more scholarships, used good condition textbooks will be our primary choice. If a used book in good condition is not available then we will purchase a new textbook. If your book is not available on Amazon, we will purchase it from your school bookstore. You must provide us with the textbook information at least 2 weeks before the beginning of the semester, we will not pay for expedited or overnight shipping. However, there may be some exceptions for Summer Semesters.

Why do I have to provide a copy of my tuition bill?
Tuition bills verify your proof of enrollment as well as helping us know how much money you need.

Why do I have to provide the school’s financial aid office or business office address and phone number?
We do not pay scholarships directly to students. We require you provide us with the information we need to contact your school to be able to pay toward your tuition if you have been approved for a scholarship.

Why do I have to give you my social security number?
It is a way for us to identify each unique person in case we have applicants with similar names. Occasionally schools require that we submit the payment with your social security number so they apply the money to the correct student.

Why do I have to give you my student ID number?
To ensure scholarships are applied to the correct student at your school, we must be able to include the student ID number when we make payments to schools.

What is the “Other Additional Information” upload section for?
You can submit a Word document version of your application or any other documentation you would like us to consider in this section.

What if I have other questions not covered here?
You can email any questions, concerns, suggestions, complaints, or Christmas cards to rlwf@randylwendtfoundation.org and our Secretary will respond to you asap.

Why did you include Christmas cards in the last answer?
Who doesn’t like receiving a card?

Why don’t you have a webpage listing your Board Members?
It is the view of our Board that the focus of our organization should remain on memorializing Randy L Wendt and helping others who have faced similar tragedies rather than advertising ourselves personally. Collectively, our Board members have more than 10 decades business experience, have been business owners, have worked in the criminal justice system, have been college students, and/or have been domestic violence survivors. We are highly committed to ensuring the mission of our non-profit is strictly followed and hope we can alleviate some of the financial burden of a very specific community. If you ever have questions about our Board Members you can email us at rlwf@randylwendtfoundation.org