Scholarships

The GO STEM Scholarship Program stands for: Growing Opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Scholarships are funded by the National Science Foundation's S-STEM program under Award Number 2130114.

The primary goal of the GO STEM Scholarship Program is to help qualified community college students studying STEM achieve their education and career goals. In addition to receiving a scholarship, GO STEM scholars take part in a variety of activities designed to help ensure their success in graduating college and obtaining a STEM career.

GO STEM Scholarship Program

Indian Hills alumnus Tom Arnold awards two scholarships to Indian Hills students each year. The scholarships award tuition, fees, required books, and required supply costs for one year (three terms). In addition, if the winners are students residing in the dormitories, an average of room and board costs will be included as part of the scholarship award.To be eligible for the scholarships, you must compose a brief written piece (600-1,200 words) on this year's subject theme.  An Indian Hills faculty committee will screen initial entries and Tom Arnold will choose the final selections himself.

2026-27 Theme: "America celebrates its 250th birthday July 4, 2026. I remember my neighborhood in Ottumwa, Iowa celebrating our 200th in 1976. The celebration was full of food, fireworks and spirit. How should we celebrate 250 and what do we have to do to make sure America has a 300th birthday?"

Application opens: September 1, 2025
Deadline: March 16, 2026

Additional Notes:

• Avoid the obscene and exaggerated use of profanities.
• The screening committee will eliminate any applications with distracting grammatical, mechanical (spelling and punctuation), and typographical errors from further consideration.  Therefore, it is advisable for all applicants to proofread, or have their papers proofread.
• The two scholarship winners will be contacted by the Indian Hills Foundation Scholarship Coordinator with details of their award.
• Students will retain all rights to their scholarship entries.

Apply to the Tom Arnold Scholarship

Did you know that if you’re taking Indian Hills classes while still in high school, you already qualify for a $1,000 scholarship? This one-time, non-renewable, non-transferable scholarship may be applied toward  tuition, books, and fees and will be divided between the students first three terms. 

Minimum qualifications:

• Graduated from a high school and attending IHCC for the first time
• An overall minimum GPA of 2.0 in IHCC concurrent enrollment courses
• Maintain 2.0 cumulative GPA while enrolled with IHCC
• Students must complete the application for scholarship
• Candidates are also encouraged to complete the FAFSA, however, are not required to do so.

Scholarship recipients must be enrolled in a minimum of 6 credit hours per term at Indian Hills.

Concurrent Enrollment Scholarship

Indian Hills has more than 40 student clubs, and many offer $1,200 scholarships to club participants. Just email the Club Advisor to learn more.

Find Your Clubs

Indian Hills supports the use of exterior scholarship funds. For more information visit our Exterior Scholarships page.

More Information

All students who have applied to or enrolled at IHCC in a credit program, either full-time or part-time, and have graduated from an accredited high school or have earned a GED, are eligible to apply for IHCC Foundation Scholarships.

Some IHCC Foundation scholarships have preferences for people who meet specific criteria. Please review each item on the online application and check all that apply.

Upon approval by the IHCC Foundation Scholarship Committee, all applicants will be considered for all IHCC Foundation Scholarships for which they may be eligible. However, a student may receive only one Foundation scholarship.

If a student is offered a Foundation scholarship and an IHCC Institutional Club Scholarship in the same academic school year, the larger of the two scholarships will be awarded.

In addition to scholarships, you might be eligible for other types of financial aid (like grants and low-interest loans) as well. Be sure to complete your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by deadline.

More About Financial Aid

Interested in starting a scholarship fund at Indian Hills? We offer a variety of options for named scholarships:

• A minimum gift of $600 can be donated to fund an annual scholarship.
• A minimum initial gift of $12,000 is needed to establish a perpetual (endowed) scholarship.
• You can choose to include the IHCC Foundation in your will or list the Foundation as a full or partial beneficiary on a life insurance policy or a retirement account.
• The value of your gift can be increased if your employer has a matching gift program — check with your employer’s personnel office.

For more information about starting an annual or perpetual scholarship, please contact Bianca Myers.