Duchossois Leadership Scholars Program

Building Tomorrow’s Leaders

The Duchossois Leadership Scholars Program at Illinois Tech is a nationally preeminent, elite scholarship program aimed at top students from across the country who have demonstrated exceptional leadership potential and academic success in their projected field.

The program will challenge scholars—through course study, mentorships, internships, service, and leadership development activities—to think boldly and creatively in their field and across disciplines. The program will provide scholars with the opportunity and support to experiment and pursue extraordinary work.

Students interested in the Duchossois Leadership Scholars Program will complete a special application, interview, and selection process. The selection will emphasize students from different disciplines and areas of interest. The program is open to undergraduate students who are United States citizens or permanent residents.

The blend of diverse academic interests with a commitment to leadership activities will allow the Duchossois Leadership Scholars to work collaboratively across disciplines and to challenge one another to think and lead outside the boundaries of their discipline.

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Scholarship Benefits

Duchossois Leadership Scholars will receive the following scholarship benefits to allow them to attend and participate in leadership and academic activities at the Illinois Institute of Technology:

• Full Tuition—Duchossois Leadership Scholars will be provided a full-tuition scholarship for undergraduate study at Illinois Tech for up to four years, provided they maintain the criteria of the scholarship. Scholars may petition to have the tuition benefit extended to a maximum extent of up to five years under certain conditions, such as for students pursuing a joint B.S./M.S. program or a baccalaureate degree program that normally requires five years to complete, provided they continue to meet the criteria of the scholarship.
• Housing and Food Allowance—Duchossois Leadership Scholars will be provided with support to cover 100 percent of their meal plans and housing on Mies Campus during the first four years of study at Illinois Tech, including during summer sessions in which the student is registered. The housing allowance covers a double-occupancy rate in Rowe Village/Kacek Hall/McCormick Student Village residence halls or fraternity/sorority housing. Students who choose to live in single-occupancy rooms will be required to pay any additional costs not covered in the housing allowance. A requirement of the Duchossois Leadership Scholars Program is that scholars must live on campus for their first two years. No housing and food support will be provided for scholars who choose to live off-campus after their second year.
• Summer Educational Experience—Duchossois Leadership Scholars will take part in a fully funded summer educational experience after the students’ first, second, or third year at Illinois Tech. Summer educational experiences may be led by one of the four Duchossois Leadership Professors and could include an international experience, a community or government service experience, a summer internship with a corporate entity, or another leadership and service activity designed by a Duchossois Leadership Professor.
• Fall Retreat—Duchossois Leadership Scholars will take part in a fully funded team-building experience once per academic year. Previous retreats have included a Segway tour of Chicago, a cooking class, and a room escape adventure.
• Mentoring—Each Duchossois Leadership Scholar will receive ongoing mentoring and leadership support by both an assigned Duchossois Leadership Professor and third-year Duchossois Leadership Scholars. These close, supportive relationships will support scholars’ ongoing projects in their areas of interest and nurture their leadership activities on campus or in the community. Scholars and Duchossois Leadership Professors will be paired according to disciplinary interests, personal background, personal relationships, and career goals.
• Duchossois Leadership Scholars Dinner—Each year, at the end of the spring semester, all Duchossois Leadership Scholars and Duchossois Leadership Professors will be invited to a celebratory dinner to report on their academic and community leadership progress, to discuss summer plans, and to reflect on their time as participants in the Duchossois Leadership Program.
• Duchossois Scholars will be provided the opportunity to meet with the donor each year. Illinois Tech will work with the donor to schedule and organize this meeting.
• The students will bear their expenses for books, fees, reference materials, computers, and/or other learning tools.

Nomination Process

If you are a high school counselor and would like to nominate a high-achieving student who meets the eligibility criteria for the Duchossois Leadership Scholarship please reach out to our admission office admission@iit.edu.

However, it is not a requirement for a student to be nominated by their high school counselors to apply to the Duchossois Leadership Scholarship.

How to Apply

• Apply via the Early Decision I (binding) or Early Action I (non-binding) application deadline.
• Complete and submit an application for admission through the Common Application
• Complete and submit an application, which will include:
  • An essay (500-word limit) describing the importance of leadership and service; please provide specific examples of how you will contribute to those ideals at the Illinois Institute of Technology
  • Résumé
  • Two letters of recommendation from individuals who know you well and can assess your commitment to leadership and service. The scholarship application contains the option for you to share information about your recommenders. You may also use letters submitted through the Common Application if they are on-topic
• Students who are selected as finalists for the Duchossois Leadership Scholarship will be required to participate in a final interview at the Leadership Symposium, which takes place on campus in early February.

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Application Timeline

Eligibility Requirements

The goal of the Duchossois Leadership Scholars Program is to attract promising young leaders to Illinois Tech and develop them into future leaders of business, government, and academia. The Duchossois Leadership Scholars represent the highest level of our nation's high school talent pool who have demonstrated exceptional leadership abilities and provided exceptional services to their communities.

Duchossois scholars may be selected only before entering Illinois Tech as first-year students; currently enrolled students are not eligible. Students majoring in any program are eligible. Students competing for the scholars' program must be United States citizens or permanent residents, and satisfy high selection standards including:

• An outstanding academic ability with a minimum 3.5 high school grade-point average
• Strong leadership potential with demonstrated extracurricular leadership activity
• Outstanding communication skills, a positive personality, and a capacity for original thought
• A sense of caring that reaches beyond self

Students must complete a supplemental application for the Duchossois Leadership Scholars Program (including an essay, résumé, and two letters of recommendation) in addition to the regular application for admission to Illinois Tech. If selected as a finalist from the pool of applicants, students must interview during Scholarship Weekend in mid-February on Illinois Tech's Mies Campus in Chicago. Finalists will interview with a committee that will include the Duchossois Leadership Professors and current Duchossois Leadership Scholars. The interview committee will make recommendations to a final selection committee staffed by senior Illinois Tech administrators.

Students coming from households with an annual income of $300,000 or more (adjusted gross income) are not eligible for the Duchossois Leadership Scholarship.

Ongoing Scholarship Requirements

The Duchossois Leadership Scholars Program focuses on engagement that develops young leaders throughout their academic career at the university. As such, the scholars are expected to participate in the program’s activities and maintain good academic and personal standing at the university.

• Scholars must maintain a GPA of 3.25 or higher. Students with GPAs that drop below 3.25 for two consecutive semesters become ineligible to continue as Duchossois Scholars.
• Scholars must participate in designated programming and other leadership opportunities on campus, and have a good record of university citizenship.
• Scholars must agree in writing to share their academic performance, including grades, each semester and to submit a report annually to the Duchossois Family Foundation on their achievements and experiences.
• Developing leaders with a passion for service and making an impact on their community is integral to the program. In line with this mission, students will sign a letter of intent to make annual $100 donations to the university upon graduation.

Additional Information

The Duchossois Scholarship cannot be combined with other Illinois Tech institutional scholarships such as Elevate, Heald, FIRST Robotics, VEX Robotics, Camras, Crown, Leadership Academy, Chicago Police and Fire, Collens, and more. If a student earns multiple Illinois Tech institutional scholarships throughout the admission process, the university will award the highest institutional award for which the student is qualified, but will not combine multiple awards.

If you are awarded the Duchossois Leadership Scholarship and the Illinois MAP Grant: The Duchossois Leadership Scholarship is restricted to tuition, housing, and food charges only and the Illinois MAP Grant is restricted to tuition and mandatory fee charges. For this reason, the total of the two awards cannot exceed the total of tuition charges, housing and food charges, activity fees, and student service fees.