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Scholarship Awards

Competitive Scholarships

Competitive scholarships, made possible by donors to the MCC Foundation, are available to participating students. We distributed $40,000 in scholarship awards in 2025. Scholarships are not limited to continued enrollment at MCC. However, only currently enrolled students at MCC are eligible to receive a scholarship (students who are enrolled in the Fall 2026 semester, but not Spring 2027, will still be eligible for the 2026 scholarships).

Student presentations eligible for scholarship awards have been previously judged on the following criteria:

  1. The presentation's coherence; the logical flow of ideas or argument, from beginning to end, should make sense for an educated, lay audience.
  2. The depth of understanding the topic shown in the presentation. Well-researched presentations combined with thorough understanding of the topic, including as shown in response to audience questions, will earn the highest marks.
  3. The level of work relative to coursework should be above and beyond everyday requirements of an upper-level course. Successful Scholars' Day projects often build on classroom assignments, but show dedication to the topic beyond classroom expectations.
  4. The effectiveness of the presentation. Professionalism, clarity, control, and overall quality of delivery is also assessed.
  5. Individuals within a group or team will not be judged for personal contributions. Each group award will be divided equally among group members.
  6. Poster presentations should be well-organized, carefully-designed (for visual appeal), comprehensive, and clearly written; sources should be cited. The poster's authors are expected to respond intelligently to viewers. (Please refer to these guides on presentation posters for additional information.)

 

Note: Submission of an annotated bibliography, due prior to Scholars' Day, is required for scholarship eligibility and judging. Pay attention to your MCC email for details.

 

Scholarship awards are competitive within a category into which presenters initially self-select. The Scholars' Day Committee reserves the right to combine categories if there are too few entries for a meaningful awards process. We strive to award roughly a quarter to a third of the presentations with a scholarship prize.

A variety of faculty, staff, and administrators have volunteered to serve as judges for determination of scholarships, and though we can't list them here (to protect their anonymity), we are extremely grateful for their participation.