Virgil L Strickler Youth Reserve Program Scholarships
Scholarship Sponsored by Ohio State Fair
Overview
The Ohio Expositions Commission created a scholarship program to honor outstanding young people in Ohio and to support those who wish to continue their education. These awards are available to participants in the Ohio State Fair and are intended to help students pursue undergraduate study at accredited institutions.
Purpose
The scholarships are intended to provide financial assistance to high school juniors, seniors, and recent graduates who will be enrolled in an undergraduate program in any field at an accredited college or university.
General provision
The Scholarship Committee retains the right to withhold any award if no applicant meets the program’s standards.
Eligibility
- Must be a high school junior, high school senior, or an undergraduate student continuing their education in an accredited undergraduate program.
- Must be a resident of the State of Ohio.
- Must be eligible to participate in the Junior Fair (not older than 19 years of age as of January 1, 2026) and must have been an active participant in both the Ohio State Fair Junior Division and the applicant’s local county fair.
- Previous applicants and past scholarship recipients are eligible to apply again provided they meet the above criteria.
How to apply / Submission requirements
- Complete and submit the application through the online scholarship portal by April 1, 2026. Applications submitted after this deadline will not be considered.
- Applications must be complete. Any application missing required items (for example, transcripts or required responses) will be disqualified.
- Transcripts may be either official or unofficial and must be uploaded via the online application.
- Only one application per applicant is permitted; do not submit multiple applications.
Evaluation and selection
- Applications will first be screened to confirm minimum eligibility. Eligible applications will then be distributed to members of the Scholarship Committee for scoring.
- Each committee member will score applications according to the criteria and weightings below; the final ranking will be the average of all committee scores. Weighted criteria:
- 20% Scholastic standing
- 20% Citizenship and leadership
- 25% Ohio State Fair participation
- 20% County fair participation
- 15% Essay
- The Scholarship Committee may request an interview with any applicant at its discretion.