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Scholarship programs

CUNA Lending Council scholarship programs

Each year, Lending Council offers scholarships to eligible credit union staff.  The Scholarship Committee will award recipients based on specific scholarship criteria.

Scholarships will be awarded up to $3,000 and can be used for combined expenses related to the program. Scholarships will be approved prior to the event but reimbursed after proof of attendance and receipts for out-of-pocket expenses are provided. The Next Level Executive Scholarship is only for the conference and targets middle-management and above professionals seeking to stay in the industry and grow their career in Lending be accessing resources available at the conference.

  • Change bullet point to Applications are closed. Please check back in early 2025 for the 2025 applications.

The Lending Council supports credit union lenders by awarding scholarships to attend the 2024 Lending Council Conference. The scholarship will support emerging lending executives with up to $3,000 towards the cost of attending the conference.

There are two tracks for the Lending Council Conference Scholarship, please select within the application which you are applying for:

  • Needs Based – Existing Lending Council members from credit unions with less than $250m in assets who have not attended the Conference in the past 2 years.
  • Next Level Executive – Existing or potential Lending Council members on the Executive track (middle management and above) seeking to stay in the industry and grow their career in Lending by accessing the peers and resources available at the Conference and as part of Council membership. 
    • If not a Council member when the scholarship is awarded, a 2025 Lending Council membership will be deducted from these awards.

To be eligible for a Lending scholarship, you must meet the following requirements:

  1. Requests must be for the Lending Council Conference or endorsed CPD schools.
  2. Your credit union must demonstrate a financial need, as determined by the selection committee.
  3. You must be a current member of the Lending Council (need-based); if applying for the Next Level Executive scholarship and are not currently a Lending Council member, part of the scholarship will be applied toward a Lending Council membership.
  4. You must be a full-time employee of an affiliated credit union.
  5. One scholarship per credit union per year, across all Councils. A credit union cannot be awarded a scholarship (regardless of Council) two years in a row.
  6. You cannot be awarded a scholarship in two consecutive years, regardless of Council.

The application form must be completed and submitted online following the steps below:

  1. Register an account here
  2. Create your application
  3. Upload corresponding digital files
  4. Submit your application

The committee will select the recipients based on reasons stated on the application form. Only one scholarship will be awarded per credit union. All decisions are final.

If you have questions about the application process, such as your login credentials, please contact scholarships@cuna.coop.