TVBIET

The Valentine Braun Irrevocable Education Trust

Frequently Asked Questions

  • APPLICATION PROCESSES:
  • Who can apply
  • When to apply
  • How to apply

 

  • SCHOLARSHIP:
  • Availability of the Scholarship
  • Scholarship Award Process
  • Scholarship Award Refund Process
  • Renewability of the Scholarship – Nonrenewable Annual Scholarship
  • Use of the Scholarship
  • Application and/or Scholarship Award Modification Request

 

  • FORMS AND ENCLOSURES:
  • Forms to download in PDF (available on this website beginning December 16, 2024 and ending on the last day of the application acceptance period.)
  • Required documents
  • Suggested documents



APPLICATION PROCESS

 

Who can apply

 

Any individual who is planning to attend, or attending, a post-secondary institution of higher learning at either a Kansas Board of Regents (or its successor) college or university or a State of Kansas accredited vocational training school in the Fall Semester, August 2025-December 2025 and/or the Spring Semester, January 2026-May 2026 is eligible to apply for these scholarships.  Scholarships are not available for summer school classes or other classes offered outside of the 2025 Fall or the 2026 Spring Semesters. Scholarships will be awarded only for use at an academic institution which qualifies as a public charity as defined by Internal Revenue Code

170(b)(1)(A)(ii).  See Kansas Board of Regents website for a list of eligible academic institutions for these scholarships.

These scholarships are only available to citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States of America, as of December 31, 2024.  All applicants are required to be 18 years old or older as of August 31, 2025 to apply.  Only those qualified for enrollment and those enrolled in a degree or a degree equivalent program at an academic institution meeting scholarship criteria are eligible to apply for these scholarships.  

 

Only applicants who do not have a family or business relationship to any trustee, officer, director, employee or Scholarship Committee member of The Valentine Braun Irrevocable Education Trust (The Valentine Braun Scholarship) are eligible to apply for these scholarships.  Substantial contributors giving $5,000 or more to The Valentine Braun Irrevocable Education Trust (The Valentine Braun Scholarship) and their spouses, ancestors, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, siblings (whether by whole or half blood or step or foster) and the spouses of children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and siblings are not eligible to apply for these scholarships.

 

When to apply

 

January 1, 2025 through January 31, 2025 is the application acceptance period only for members of Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Christian Church, Inc. located in Topeka, Kansas as of December 31, 2023, who meet the eligibility criteria.

 

February 1, 2025 through February 28, 2025 is the application acceptance period only for members of Kansas Orthodox Christian Churches, where the church building resides in the State of Kansas and the church is a member of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America (or its successor), as of December 31, 2024, who meet the eligibility criteria (excluding members of Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Christian Church, Inc. located in Topeka, Kansas).

 

April 1, 2025 through April 30, 2025 is the application acceptance period for any individual who is planning to attend, or attending, a post-secondary institution of higher learning at either a Kansas Board of Regents (or its successor) college or university or a State of Kansas accredited vocational training school, who meets the eligibility criteria (excluding members of Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Christian Church, Inc. located in Topeka, Kansas and members of Kansas Orthodox Christian Churches, where the church building resides in the State of Kansas and the church is a member of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America or its successor).


How to apply

 

To be considered for these scholarships, the individual must complete, sign and submit the enclosed application and applicable enclosures, postmarked by the United States Postal Service postage prepaid or delivered to a courier service that provides tracking including but not limited to Federal Express, United Parcel Service, etc. on or before the applicable application acceptance period deadline.  (See the last page of the Scholarship Program Application Instructions for exact dates.)

 

Applications submitted on prior year forms will not be considered.  Applications, enclosures, all correspondence and forms will only be accepted by mail via the United States Postal Service postage prepaid or a courier service that provides tracking including but not limited to Federal Express, United Parcel Service, etc. at the following address:

 

The Valentine Braun Scholarship

Attention: Scholarship Committee

5623D 22nd Park

Topeka, Kansas 66614

 

The Scholarship Committee is not responsible for any misplaced, stolen, lost, destroyed, misdirected, postage due, delayed or damaged mail of any kind, lost or misdirected communication of any kind, incomplete application packages or enclosures, or any information provided by the applicant, the applicant’s academic institution or any third party submission on behalf of the applicant.  Only completed, dated, signed and notarized, where required, applications with all of the applicable enclosures submitted contemporaneously may be considered during the applicable application acceptance period for the 2025 Fall and/or the 2026 Spring Semesters.  Applicants who submit incomplete applications, forms and/or enclosures may not receive a scholarship award or the dollar amount of a scholarship award, if any, may be reduced.  Applications postmarked or delivered to a courier service that provides tracking after the applicable application acceptance period deadline will not be considered.

 

Applications are considered on a first-come first-served basis by the applicable application acceptance period and subject to the approval of the Scholarship Committee.  Applications will not be accepted by hand delivery (including but not limited to the Scholarship Committee’s mailbox, to a Scholarship Committee member, etc.,), fax or electronic means such as e-mail, etc.  Applications and enclosures submitted by impermissible methods will not be considered.

 

The Scholarship Committee may, but shall not be required to, use certified mail or certified mail with return receipt to communicate with applicants.  The Scholarship Committee is not responsible for misplaced, stolen, lost, destroyed, misdirected, delayed or damaged certified mail notices or those notices that are refused or not picked up. Failure to accept certified mail could result  loss of scholarship award.

 

Once an application has been submitted, the applicant is responsible for notifying the Scholarship Committee of any material changes such as mailing address, academic institution, decrease in academic credit hours, etc. in a timely manner.


SCHOLARSHIP

 

Availability of the Scholarship


To be considered, the application must be completed in its entirety, either typed or clearly printed by hand, (the essay must be typewritten) including all applicable enclosures.  It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that his/her application and enclosures are complete and submitted by the applicable application acceptance period deadline.  Applications are considered based upon the postmark, date of delivery to a courier service, date received, academic performance, a demonstrated financial need, extracurricular activities, etc.  All scholarship awards are subject to availability of funds. 

 

Scholarship Award Process

 

On or before the notification deadline those awarded scholarships will be notified by mail at the applicant’s address provided with his/her application or the last provided by the applicant.  The notification will include an Award Acceptance Form and an Award Rejection Form, one of which must be signed by the applicant and postmarked by the United States Postal Service postage prepaid or delivered to a courier service on or before the acceptance deadline or the applicant will not receive a scholarship award.  If the Scholarship Committee receives both a signed Award Acceptance Form and a signed Award Rejection Form from the applicant or does not receive a response from the applicant by the acceptance deadline, this will be considered a rejection and the applicant will not receive a scholarship award.

 

Monetary awards will be disbursed in United States of America dollars directly to the academic institution listed on Part I of the applicant’s application and designated for the applicant’s benefit.  Monetary awards will be disbursed as follows: the 2025 Fall Semester scholarship awards in August 2025 and the 2026 Spring Semester scholarship awards in January 2026. 

 

To receive the 2026 Spring Semester scholarship award, the applicant must:

 

1.  Successfully enroll for the 2026 Spring Semester in an academic institution meeting the criteria outlined in the Scholarship Program Application Instructions.

 

2.  Remain in good standing and maintain a 2.0 or higher cumulative grade point average with his/her academic institution, as of December 2025.

 

3.  Provide an official transcript of any 2025 Fall Semester grades by mail or a courier service that provides tracking before his/her 2026 Spring Semester award will be disbursed.  If the Scholarship Committee does not receive an official transcript of the applicant’s 2025 Fall Semester grades, on or before the Fall grade deadline, the applicant’s scholarship award for the 2026 Spring Semester will not be disbursed.


Interview Option

 

The applicant may be interviewed in person, phone, etc. at the discretion of the Scholarship Committee.

Grade Deadlines

The applicant must provide an official transcript of his/her 2026 Spring Semester grades by mail or other courier service that provides tracking on or before the Spring grade deadline.  If the Scholarship Committee does not receive the applicant’s official transcript of his/her 2026 Spring Semester grades on or before the Spring grade deadline, the applicant may be disqualified from future scholarship awards. 

Applicants who have not been issued their grades by the Fall grade deadline and/or Spring grade deadline must contact the Scholarship Committee in a timely manner by mail or other courier service that provides tracking.  These instances will be handled on a case by case basis.  A delay in providing the applicant’s grades to the Scholarship Committee may postpone the disbursement of his/her scholarship award.

Scholarship Award Refund Process

If the applicant receives a WHOLE OR PARTIAL REFUND OR ANY REPAYMENT of his/her tuition from his/her academic institution, he/she must repay any portion of the refund attributable to his/her scholarship award from The Valentine Braun Scholarship by issuing and mailing or delivering to a courier service that provides tracking a check payable to The Valentine Braun Irrevocable Education Trust within 10 calendar days of such receipt.  Failure to return the money from the unused whole or partial scholarship award may disqualify the scholarship recipient from future scholarship awards and/or result in legal action for recovery of any unpaid amount.


Renewability of the Scholarship-Nonrenewable annual scholarship


These are NONRENEWABLE ANNUAL scholarships.  Applicants must reapply each academic year to be considered for these scholarships.  Applying for these scholarships does not guarantee a scholarship award.  The criteria, application, instructions and forms used may be changed on an annual basis at the discretion of the Scholarship Committee and without further notice.


Use of the Scholarship


These scholarship awards are for the applicant’s tuition only.  Each applicant may receive an amount up to, but no more than, 100 percent of the total cost of his/her tuition for the 2025 Fall and/or the 2025 Spring Semesters.  Applicants who have full tuition scholarship(s) for the 2025 Fall and/or the 2025 Spring Semesters from other source(s) are not eligible for these scholarship awards.  An applicant’s partial tuition scholarship(s) from other source(s) for the 2025 Fall and/or the 2025 Spring Semesters will reduce the dollar amount of his/her scholarship award.

Notification Requirement-Change of Address

If, after submitting his/her application, any change in the applicant’s mailing address must be communicated to the Scholarship Committee in a timely manner by mail or by a courier service that provides tracking.  Withholding this information or a delay in providing this information, irrespective of the cause, may result in the loss of a scholarship award, delay in disbursement of any scholarship award, etc.

 

Notification Requirement-Withdrawal from Scholarship Award Process

 

If, after submitting his/her application, the applicant is unable for any reason to attend an academic institution that meets the scholarship criteria for the 2025 Fall and/or the 2025 Spring Semesters, or decides to withdraw his/her application for consideration by the Scholarship Committee, the applicant is required to complete, sign and mail or deliver to a courier service that provides tracking the Application and/or Scholarship Award Modification Request Form (see www.TVBIET.org for a copy of this form) within 10 calendar days of his/her determination.  Failure to provide notice of withdrawal may disqualify the applicant from future scholarship awards and/or result in legal action for recovery of any unpaid amount.


Notification Requirement-Academic Institution Change and/or Decrease in Academic Credit Hours

 

If, after submitting his/her application, the applicant changes the academic institution that he/she is planning on attending or decreases the number of academic credit hours listed on his/her application, the applicant is required to complete, sign and mail or deliver to a courier service that provides tracking the Application and/or Scholarship Award Modification Request Form within 10 calendar days of his/her determination, so that the applicant’s scholarship award, if any, will be recalculated.

 

Notification Requirement-Other Significant Changes

 

In the event of any other circumstances requiring the modification of an application or scholarship award, the applicant is required to complete, sign and mail or deliver to a courier service that provides tracking, the Application and/or Scholarship Award Modification Request Form (see www.TVBIET.org for a copy of this form) within 10 calendar days of his/her determination.

 

FORMS AND ENCLOSURES


 

Forms to download in PDF will be available on this website beginning December 16, 2023 and ending on the last day of the application acceptance period. If experiencing difficulty with download, contact us immediately by emailing to scholarship@tvbiet.org . Do not submit personally identifiable information electronically to www.TVBIET.org or to its e-mail address.

 


Required documents for ALL applicants (See  Scholarship Program Application Instructions for more information.) Copies will not be considered, unless specifically identified as permissible in these instructions.


 

 

Suggested documents:  If included with this application, the following items may increase the dollar amount of the scholarship award:

 

  • A recent recommendation letter(s) written, signed and dated within the last 12 months from applicant’s work supervisor(s).
  • A recent recommendation letter(s) written, signed and dated within the last 12 months from applicant’s current or former high school or post-secondary academic institution teacher(s).
  • Proof of applicant’s extracurricular activities, award(s), recognition, leadership position(s), membership(s), military service or community service during the previous five years.

 

 

 

 

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Last updated in December 2024.