Eligibility Requirements

Click here to download a printable brochure.

 

Who can apply?

 

Students who meet the following criteria:

  • Must have competed at the UIL Academic State Meet, Congressional Debate State Meet, One-Act Play State Meet, or Theatrical Design State Meet OR must have advanced to the octofinal round (second day) of the Cross Examination Debate State Meet, OR must be a state finalist in the Barbara Jordan Historical Essay Competition, the Latino History Essay Competition, or the Young Filmmakers Festival OR must have been a member of one of the top 10 teams per competition group at the BEST or FIRST state robotics contests
  • Must plan to attend an accredited college or university in the state of Texas
  • Must enroll full-time in college and maintain a 2.5 college GPA (some scholarships require higher GPAs
  • Must be graduating from high school during the current academic year

 

PLEASE NOTE: participation only in ATHLETIC or MUSIC contests does not qualify a student to apply for a TILF scholarship. A student MUST advance to state in an ACADEMIC contest to apply.

 

Qualifying contests are as follows:

 

Accounting, Barbara Jordan Historical Essay Competition*, Calculator Applications, Computer Applications, Computer Science, Current Issues and Events, Debate (Cross-Examination* & Lincoln-Douglas), Journalism (Copy Editing, Editorial Writing, Feature Writing, Headline Writing & News Writing), Literary Criticism, Mathematics, Number Sense, Latino History Essay Competition*, One-Act Play, Ready Writing, Robotics*, Science, Social Studies, Speech (Prose Interpretation, Poetry Interpretation, Informative Speaking & Persuasive Speaking), Spelling & Vocabulary, Student Congress, Theatrical Design, and Young Filmmakers Festival*.

*Special Notes: For students who compete in the Cross-Examination Debate contest, requirements for for all years except 2021 are advancing to the second day of competition (octofinals). For 2021, contestants need only to have advanced to state competition. Since CX state was not held in 2020, participation in that year does not qualify a student for eligibility. For students who compete in the Barbara Jordan Historical Essay Competition, Latino History Essay Competition,  and/or Young Filmmakers Festival, only students who advance to state finals are eligible to apply. For students who compete in BEST and FIRST Robotics contests, only members of the top 10 teams in each competition group are eligible to apply.

Advancing to the state level in any academic pilot contests that are not officially sanctioned by the UIL for the 2023-24 school year does not qualify a student to apply for TILF scholarships.

 

All applicants must meet the main scholarship criteria and should also consider any additional requirements for individual donors listed on the scholarships page. (Please note, however, that applicants are applying directly to the program and not for a specific scholarship. Our scholarship committee makes the final determination on recipients.)