The Rising Herd Scholarship Fund is a program of the Marshall University Alumni Association & Big Green Chapter of the Mid-Ohio Valley. Each member of this club values and appreciates the education they received at Marshall University and wants to help deserving students of the Mid-Ohio Valley to experience the same thing. Each year they award a limited number of $1,000 scholarships to high school students enrolled in public and private high schools in 13 different counties in the Mid-Ohio Valley. Each scholarship is a single one-year award, intended for use in the first year of enrollment at Marshall University. Each year, the alumni association holds various fund-raising events and activities to raise the money they award. In recognition of the work the do, the alumni association has been recognized as Marshall University's Alumni Association of the Year multiple times.
The scholarship is for high school seniors in the Mid-Ohio Valley who intend to enroll at Marshall University in Huntington, WV. The scholarship will be awarded in the spring of the current school year for use in the following collegiate year.
You can apply for the Rising Herd Scholarship if you are a current senior in Wood, Pleasants, Tyler, Ritchie, Doddridge, or Wirt Counties in West Virginia or Washington County in Ohio. The scholarship can be used for all intended fields of study. As this is a one-time award intended only for use during the first year at Marshall University, previous award recipients are ineligible.
If you meet the residential requirements, you can apply for the scholarship directly with us even if you haven't applied to Marshall University or been accepted. We have made the process even easier this year by allowing you to begin the scholarship application process now and then complete it later in the school year when your college plans become more solid.
We have three ways for you to apply!
First, if you have already applied to and been accepted to Marshall University, click here to visit Marshall's Scholarship Portal. Once you sign in, you will be presented with ALL scholarships that you qualify to apply for! It's a one-stop shop, and our scholarship application will also be available. Complete the application process there, and Marshall University will forward your information to us.
If you are tech-savvy but have not applied to Marshall University and are considering it or have decided to attend but haven't been accepted yet, you can use our online application by clicking here. It's divided into two parts. The first gets you started and requires only the information you already know! Then, later in the year, you'll be able to return to this website and complete the process. It's fast and easy, and you can use it on your phone or computer!
If you are a paper and pen person, you can click here to download a paper application to complete and mail it in!
For those students already enrolled and accepted to Marshall University, please see their submission instructions on their online portal.
For those using our online application (because you haven't applied to or been accepted to Marshall University yet), you don't need any documents to begin! We've divided the application into two parts. You can complete the first part with only the information in your head! Then, later in the spring, you can come back to this website to upload the following: transcripts, two letters of recommendation, your 200 - 500 word essay, and the counselor/administrator questionnaire. You will also need to share your lists of extracurricular activities, community service activities, leadership activities, and honors and awards you may have received during the school year.
For those who want to fill out a paper application, download that here and fill it in on your own. You can do it all at once, or a little at a time, then make sure it's mailed and postmarked by March 6, 2025.