Available Scholarships

Harrisonville Telephone Company Scholarship at Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC)

Each year, Harrisonville Telephone Company provides one $1,500 scholarship to a graduating senior from each of the six high schools in its telephone serving area:  Columbia High School, Red Bud High School, Dupo High School, Valmeyer High School, Gibault High School and Waterloo High School.

The SWIC Foundation selects the recipients based upon the following information:

  • Full-time student;
  • Current year graduating senior from each of the following high schools: Columbia, Red Bud, Dupo, Valmeyer, Gibault & Waterloo;
  • Resident of the Harrisonville Telephone Company service area with one of the following land line telephone prefixes: 281, 282, 284, 286, 458, 935 or 939;
  • Recipient(s) must reside in Harrisonville Telephone Company (HTC) telephone exchange areas of Waterloo, Columbia, Red Bud, Renault, Valmeyer, Prairie du Rocher, or Dupo and the parent or person standing in a custodial relationship must be a current and continuing Internet Only or voice customer of HTC for the full term of the scholarship;
  • Academic merit, but may not receive Top 10% Tuition Scholarship;
  • Maintain: 2.0 GPA (cumulative) and 2.0 GPA (semester) while receiving scholarship;
  • Scholarship may only be used for tuition, fees and books. No checks will be made available to students after tuition, fees and books have been paid;
  • Must reside in District #522.

Contact your high school guidance office for scholarship applications.

More information about this scholarship can be found on the SWIC website at https://estorm.swic.edu.

Harrisonville Telephone Company/Henry W. Gentsch Memorial Scholarship at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (SIU-C)

Each year, Harrisonville Telephone Company provides one $4,000 scholarship ($1,000 per year for a maximum of 4 years) to a graduating senior from one of the six high schools in its telephone serving area to attend Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in honor of Henry W. Gentsch, whose telecommunications career spanned nearly 73 years.  Henry W. Gentsch was born in Campbell Hill, IL, began his tenure with Harrisonville Telephone Company in 1945 as a director.  Following a 35-year career with AT&T Corp., he joined Harrisonville Telephone Company full time in 1962, serving as president and chairman of the board until his retirement and continued serving as a director until his death in 2000.

The Academic Scholarship Coordinator in the office of Financial Aid at SIU-C will select the recipient of the scholarship based upon the following criteria:

  • Recipient must be a current year graduating senior from one of the following high schools: Columbia High School (Columbia, IL), Dupo High School (Dupo, IL), Gibault Catholic High School (Waterloo, IL), Red Bud High School (Red Bud, IL), Valmeyer High School (Valmeyer IL), or Waterloo High School (Waterloo, IL).
  • Recipient resides in the Harrisonville Telephone Company (HTC) telephone exchange area of Waterloo, Columbia, Red Bud, Renault, Valmeyer, Prairie du Rocher or Dupo and the parent or person standing in a custodial relationship must be a current and continuing land line telephone customer of HTC or a current and continuing Internet Only customer of HTC for the full term of the scholarship;
  • Must meet the admission and selection criteria established by Southern Illinois University Carbondale;
  • Based highly upon many factors such as academic merit, school and community service and financial need;
  • Scholarship is renewable for up to four years as long as student maintains eligibility.

Contact your high school guidance office for scholarship applications.

More information about this scholarship can be found on the SIU-C website at https://siu.academicworks.com.

Foundation for Rural Service National Scholarship

Established in 1994, the Foundation for Rural Service (FRS), in cooperation with the National Telephone Cooperative Association (NTCA)-The Rural Broadband Association, seeks to sustain and enhance the quality of life throughout rural America by advancing an understanding of rural telecommunication issues.  In keeping with its mission, furthering the education of rural youth is one of the foundation’s primary focuses.  Harrisonville Telephone Company is a member of NTCA and it is proud to support FRS in this worthy endeavor.

As your local telecommunication service provider, it is our pleasure to offer the $2,500 national scholarship program to high school students in our telephone serving area.  To qualify for this scholarship, applicants must reside in the Harrisonville Telephone Company (HTC) exchange areas of Columbia, Dupo, Red Bud, Prairie du Rocher, Renault, Valmeyer or Waterloo.  Parents or guardians of the candidates must be a current and continuing land line telephone customer of HTC or a current and continuing Internet Only customer of HTC. This $2,500 scholarship is not based upon grade-point average, rather it is targeted toward high school seniors who are good students who may not qualify for scholarships based solely on GPA.

The Foundation for Rural Service will award one scholarship per geographic region of the NTCA membership and one to a student sponsored by an NTCA associate member.  The scholarship application should be sent directly to FRS.  Please note that each application must be signed by an officer of Harrisonville Telephone Company to be eligible.  Additional scholarships are also available to those students meeting more detailed criteria upon successful submission of this application.

Contact your high school guidance office for scholarship applications.

More information about this scholarship can be found on the FRS web site at http://www.frs.org.