The Herb Kohl Educational Foundation annually awards $10,000 Initiative Scholarship to 100 graduating high school students in public and private schools throughout Wisconsin. This award is in addition to the Excellence Scholarship. For information on the Excellence Scholarship, click on the Student Excellence tab.

Each year, 100 different high schools are designated to award an Initiative Scholarship. The selection of schools is based on a multi-year rotation cycle, which allows every high school in Wisconsin to receive an Initiative Scholarship in rotation. Each designated school chooses its recipient through an internal selection and application process. The $10,000 scholarships are awarded in the spring and announced in conjunction with all other awards.

The intent of the Initiative Scholarship is to recognize students who put forth extraordinary effort to do their best in the classroom and have overcome significant obstacles or adversity but whose class rank or other extenuating circumstances likely make them ineligible for academic scholarships.

Recipients are selected by a process led by their teachers and school administrators. They are notified of their selection in March.