The Dane G. Hansen Foundation awards more than 200 scholarships every year to graduating seniors from accredited high schools in 26 Northwest Kansas counties, across four tiers. Three tiers require a 3.50 unweighted GPA and a single-test ACT composite of 23+ to sit a qualifying test: Hansen Student and Hansen Career & Technical Education both pay $4,000 in year one (renewable one more year, $8,000 total); Hansen Scholar pays $6,500/year (renewable to $26,000 total); Hansen Leader of Tomorrow pays $10,000/year (renewable to $40,000 total). The fourth tier, Career & Technical Education, instead has no minimum GPA or test requirement and asks for a one-page essay plus three reference letters. Registration for the 2026 qualifying test (covering the other three tiers) closed September 4, 2026; the Career & Technical Education track has its own later deadline.
Eligibility
DemographicsMust graduate from an accredited high school in one of 26 Northwest Kansas counties (Cheyenne, Cloud, Decatur, Ellis, Ellsworth, Gove, Graham, Jewell, Lincoln, Logan, Mitchell, Norton, Osborne, Ottawa, Phillips, Rawlins, Republic, Rooks, Russell, Saline, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Thomas, Trego, Wallace). The Career & Technical Education track has no minimum GPA; the other three tiers require a 3.50 unweighted GPA and 23+ ACT.
Applying
First-year amount by tier; Hansen Scholar and Leader of Tomorrow renew up to $26,000 and $40,000 total respectively.