Apply for a Scholarship
Who is eligible for a scholarship?
Any Wakefield resident, regardless of age, planning to enroll as a full-time student in a post-secondary school or a career-training program is eligible to apply for a TSF scholarship for each academic year of attendance. Wakefield Memorial High School METCO students are also eligible to apply.
When will the application be available?
Once again this year, changes are being made to the FAFSA, which will be available to the public by December 1, 2024. TSF will open its scholarship application process on March 1, 2025.
2025-2026 FAFSA
New Application Timeline
Who determines the scholarship recipients?
The members of TSF’s Scholarship Needs Committee determine all scholarship recipients. This committee is made up of members of the Board of Directors. Directors who have relatives applying for TSF awards are prohibited from serving on this committee as stipulated by our Bylaws.
We process all applications using assigned ID numbers rather than names, ensuring anonymity amongst the committee members.
How are scholarship recipients determined?
Scholarships are awarded to those applicants with the greatest need. TSF determines need using a formula which contains several factors, such as the family income expected to be available to the student per FAFSA Submission Summary, the cost of tuition at the school selected, the grants/aid provided by other means, and the dollar amount the organization has available to distribute for the year.
Are scholarships ever given for reasons other than financial need? Yes...
- Each year seven Bill Spaulding Merit Awards of $600 each are awarded to exceptional high school seniors. Invitations are sent to students that are college-bound high school seniors in the top 10% of their class and a Wakefield resident or a METCO student who attended WMHS all four years.
- The Boston College Academic Achievement Award, funded anonymously in 1987, is awarded to a high-ranking member of the WMHS graduating class who will be attending Boston College. This award of $1350 per year is given for four years of undergraduate study at Boston College provided that the recipient remains a student in good standing at Boston College. This recipient is selected by WMHS staff.
- The Rhudine Johnson Unsung Hero Award is given to two graduating Wakefield High School students (one male and one female) who are deemed “unsung heroes” of their graduating class. Per the instructions of the benefactor of this TSF fund, the recipients of this $600 award are selected by a peer group of TSF Student Directors.
- The Dan Blanchard Award was created to honor the memory of Dan Blanchard, who taught history and social studies in Wakefield for 46 years and was Department Chair for 26 of those years. This $600 award is given to a graduating senior who has excelled in Social Studies (History) and has participated in athletics at WMHS. This recipient is selected by WMHS staff.