Boettcher Scholarship

The Boettcher Scholarship is a prestigious merit-based academic scholarship awarded to graduating Colorado high school students. Award recipients, on average, rank in the top 2% of their graduating classes and have an average SAT score around 1400 (roughly the 97th percentile).

The award is considered "full-ride" and allows Boettcher Scholars to attend any accredited Colorado university for 4 years without significant expenditure by the student. 40 students are awarded Boettcher Scholarships each year, representing about 4% of applicants. They are selected from 72 finalists who are interviewed by the Foundation board. 250 semi-finalists are required to add a teacher recommendation to their application with the hopes of advancing to be a finalist. In the 2010-2011 season over 1,300 students applied. If a student declines the scholarship, alternates are promoted from the pool of finalists so that all scholarships are used.

The program was started in 1952 with the intention of keeping high-performing students in Colorado. The most popular destination has been the University of Denver, although significant numbers of Scholars have attended the University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado State University, Colorado College and the Colorado School of Mines. The associated Teacher Recognition Awards Program was started in 1992. Another objective of the program is to encourage scholars to live in Colorado after graduation.

Boettcher Scholars have subsequently been awarded well-known graduate scholarships, including Marshall Scholarships and Rhodes Scholarships, to continue their studies. Currently, there are roughly 2,000 Boettcher Scholar alumni, more than half of whom reside in Colorado.