Scholarship Opportunities

The MTA Foundation will award six general scholarships and one Jon Tollefson Technology Scholarship to high school seniors graduating in 2026. The two types of scholarships available this year are:

• One $2,000 Jon Tollefson Scholarship: Applicants must be majoring in either Telecommunications or Information Technology (IT) at a university, college, or technical college and be a Minnesota resident to be eligible.
• One of five $2,000 general scholarships: Applicants must be a high school senior with plans on attending post-secondary education at a university, college, or technical college, be a Minnesota resident, and the applicant’s family must subscribe to at least one service from an MTA member company to be eligible.  *Note: The Bud Morrow Scholarship will be awarded to the highest-scoring applicant in this category and receives an additional $1,000.
• One of three $1,000 MTA Network and Plant Operations Peer Group Scholarships: To be eligible, applicants must be a high school senior with plans to major in either Telecommunications or Information Technology (IT) at a university, college, or technical college and be a Minnesota resident. This scholarship is only open to seniors either employed by an MTA active member company or parents are employed by an active member company.

Visit the MTA Foundation Scholarship to complete the application. Once completed, the application must be printed and submitted to West Central by February 13, 2026.

The FRS College Scholarship program provides $2,000 and the sponsoring NTCA member company provides $500 for a total of $2,500. In additional to the FRS general scholarships, FRS has the following named scholarships*

• JSI Scholarships
• Everett Kneece Scholarship
• Sarah Tyree Good Neighbor Scholarship
• Herbert and Isabel Bitz Memorial Scholarship
• Diana Jo Meyer Memorial Scholarship
• Cronin Communications Scholarship
• V+C Trust Scholarship
• Common Ground Scholarship
• Tim Owens—Ron Laudner Scholarship
• The Nontraditional Student Scholarship (for adult learners who will be enrolled at an accredited college, university, or vocational school for undergraduate studies)

*Submitting one application is sufficient for eligibility of all available scholarships. Scholarships are completed online and must be submitted no later than February 14, 2026.  For applications and guidelines, see your high school guidance counselor or visit https://www.frs.org/programs/youth-programs/scholarships.

High school seniors whose parents are cooperative members are encouraged to apply for one of eight scholarships of $1,000 each. The application deadline is March 27, 2026. Our cooperative status allows us to fund our scholarship program in part through unclaimed capital credits.  Click here for the scholarship application

Current college students are urged to apply for a $1,000 scholarship through the 2nd Year or Beyond Scholarship. Students who graduated from high school and are from any one of the five districts of WCTA currently attending 2nd year or beyond higher education are eligible. Past scholarship winners are also eligible. The application deadline is May 29, 2026  Click here for scholarship application