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THE HERKIMER REGION COLLEGE & CAREER SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION

The Herkimer Region College & Career Scholarship Foundation is a not-for-profit community scholarship foundation. Local citizens from many professions work voluntarily to generate scholarship funds for graduates of technical programs in our region. These technical programs may be those in place at Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES or one of the 10 component districts.

The component school districts are Central Valley, Dolgeville, Frankfort-Schuyler, Herkimer, Little Falls, Mount Markham, Owen D. Young, Poland, Richfield Springs and West Canada Valley.

Since 1991, more than $204,000 has been given out through more than 350 scholarships distributed to students seeking to combine their technical education training with accredited college study.

To view the Herkimer Region College & Career Scholarship Foundation brochure, click here.

Scholarship Foundation increases award amount, now accepting applications for 2024

The Herkimer Region College & Career Scholarship Foundation has increased the value of its General Scholarship Awards, Career Awards and LPN Awards to $1,000 and is now accepting applications for scholarships for 2024.

Application forms are now available from school counselors in all Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES area school districts or are linked to below. New this year, the applications can either be downloaded and printed or completed directly online.

Online applications:

  • For the college General Scholarship Award online application, click here.


  • For the Career Award online application, click here.


  • For the adult LPN Award online application, click here.

Printable applications:

  • For the college General Scholarship Award printable application, click here.


  • For the Career Award printable application, click here.


  • For the adult LPN Award printable application, click here.

The deadline for submitting a college General Scholarship Award application is March 1, 2024. The deadline for the Career Award and LPN Award applications is March 15, 2024. Printed applications must be returned to your school district counselor or the LPN coordinator.

For information, contact Herkimer BOCES School to Careers secretary Kelly Mills at 315-867-2000 or kmills@herkimer-boces.org.

The General Scholarship Awards are open to students who are majoring in vocational education at Herkimer BOCES or in their high schools in the Herkimer BOCES region and plan to go to college the next school year. Students can earn a $1,000 scholarship for their first year of college and then earn additional funding for their second year if certain criteria are met.

School districts in the Herkimer BOCES region are Central Valley, Dolgeville, Frankfort-Schuyler, Herkimer, Little Falls, Mount Markham, Owen D. Young, Poland, Richfield Springs and West Canada Valley.

The scholarship foundation also offers a Career Award for students who gain employment in a Career and Technical Education field prior to or soon after graduation and incur expenses as a result of that employment. This award allows the reimbursement of up to $1,000 for trade-specific expenses such as employment clothing, personal protective equipment, tools, supplies, certifications, credentials and/or licenses.

The $1,000 LPN Award is open to students in the Herkimer BOCES Adult Practical Nursing Program.

Aside from the scholarships that students apply for, there are special incentive awards available for those high school students pursuing careers in certain areas. These special funds are administered by the Herkimer Region College & Career Scholarship Foundation and are in addition to the scholarships offered through the general fund.

The special incentive awards are:

  • The Paul A. Bouck Memorial Fund provides a scholarship to a student who is entering a field of study that relates to agriculture, a rural-related field or other related areas.

  • The Robert A. Moore Memorial Scholarship provides a scholarship to a student who has completed the Herkimer BOCES Visual Communications Media Arts program and plans to further their training in the field of radio and television broadcasting.

  • The Special Nursing Fund provides a scholarship to a nursing student in need of financial assistance.

  • The Mower Family Farm Fund provides a scholarship to a student who will be pursuing occupations in the field of agriculture.

  • The William E. Whitehill Jr. Scholarship provides a scholarship to a student in the Technical Education Center who demonstrates the most improvement while in the program.

  • The Chris Brockway Memorial Scholarship Award provides a scholarship to a student who completes the Criminal Justice program.

  • The Papaleo/Dady Family Scholarship provides a scholarship to a student who successfully completes a two-year technical education program at BOCES with a minimum grade-point average of 85%.

  • The Harry J. Enea Sr. Memorial Scholarship provides a scholarship to a student who will be pursuing entrepreneurship and/or small business.

  • The Chester A. Scerra Memorial Scholarship provides a scholarship to a student pursuing an education in the field of culinary arts.

  • The William E. Busacker Scholarship Award provides a scholarship to a student who has demonstrated leadership in causes that promote change to the status-quo, compassion for the less-fortunate, animal rights or other issues.

  • The Hummel Family Scholarship Award provides a scholarship to a student who demonstrated community-minded focus throughout the student’s high school career.

For information or to request the brochure or application information in a different format, contact Kelly Mills at Herkimer BOCES at 315-867-2000 or kmills@herkimer-boces.org.

Career Award Criteria

The Herkimer Region College and Career Scholarship Foundation starting this year will offer a Career Award for students who gain employment in a Career and Technical Education field prior to or soon after graduation and incur expenses as a result of that employment. This award allows the reimbursement of up to $750 for trade-specific expenses such as employment clothing, personal protective equipment, tools, supplies, certifications, credentials and/or licenses.

Below are the newly established Career Award criteria:

Clothing/work gear needed for employment may include but is not limited to the following: shoes/boots, gloves, smock, jacket, hard hat, face shields/masks, safety glasses, helmet, uniform, tool belt, etc.

Tools/supplies needed for employment may include but is not limited to the following: tool pouch, socket set, tool box/bucket, basic hand tools, stethoscope, markers, pencils, sketchpad, curling iron, blow dryer, etc.

Certification/licenses needed for employment may include but is not limited to the following: fingerprinting, licensing/testing fees, certification fees, etc.

Requirements of the recipient for reimbursement:

  1. Recipient needs to provide proof of employment (eg: pay stub, employment verification letter)

  2. Receipts submitted must be dated on or before Dec. 31 of the recipient’s high school graduation year.

  3. Receipts must be clearly itemized and must be connected to the position in which the recipient is employed. Recipients are encouraged to submit all receipts at one time; however, a total of two submissions will be allowed.

  4. Proof of employment and receipts must be sent on or before Dec. 31 of the recipient’s high school graduation year to:

                    Herkimer Regional College & Career Scholarship Foundation
                    Herkimer BOCES-Attn: Kelly Mills
                    352 Gros Boulevard
                    Herkimer, NY 13350-1499

NOTE: The Herkimer Regional College & Career Scholarship Foundation reserves the right to review each item submitted prior to reimbursement.

Recipients are encouraged to shop local.