Scholarships
These scholarships are available to any qualified applicant, regardless of gender, school, degree, or affiliation with freemasonry.
All interested individuals are encouraged to submit their completed application via email or USPS postmark by March 31, 2024.
Scholarship Application: Download Form
Scholarship Details: Deadline for three $6,000 scholarships is March 31, 2024.
Completed forms were sent to:
Send to: Austin Lodge No. 12 c/o Scholarships, P.O. Box 5150, Austin, Texas 78763; email: info@austinlodge12.com
About the Scholarship Process
Austin Lodge No. 12, A.F. & A.M., is offering scholarships to deserving applicants who plan to attend Texas colleges and universities.
The scholarships are intended to help people pursue a post-secondary education at an accredited institution in Texas. This includes community colleges, universities, and trade schools. The scholarships can be used for any school-related expenses, including tuition, fees, and books.
Applicants are not required to have a Masonic connection, and race, creed, religion, color, gender, or national origin are not considered in the selection process. Recipients are chosen from submitted applications that contain all required information.
The selection process uses a broad set of criteria. The primary criterion is service to the school and community, with a focus on leadership positions in these areas. Austin Lodge No. 12 is looking for students who have the potential to be not only future service providers but also community leaders. An applicant’s academic record, communication skills, and need for financial assistance are all carefully examined.
Considerations include an evaluation of the applicant by a school official. The selection committee considers the application’s organization, appearance, and completeness.
Any section may contain additional pages of narrative or supporting documentation. This can include copies of newspaper clippings, photos, letters of recommendation from people in your school or community, and other materials that will help the Committee learn more about you, your school, and your community activities. Submitted materials will not be returned.
Candidates are encouraged to submit applications. These applications must be postmarked by March 31, 2024.
About the Scholarship Program
Masonry has long emphasized education. Our Founding Fathers understood that this democratic experiment could only be sustained with a well-educated populace, so when Texas gained independence, the Masons emphasized the importance of education. All of the Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the Republic of Texas were Masons, and when Mirabeau B Lamar succeeded Sam Houston as President, he persuaded the Republic of Texas Congress to set aside land in each county for public education, as well as 50 leagues of land for the state, which would become the Permanent University Fund for the University of Texas and Texas A&M University. Brother Lamar is credited with founding public education in Texas.
When a Masonic Lodge was built in a community during the early Republic, it was typically a two-story structure. The buildingwas designed to include a lodge meeting room upstairs and a schoolroom for the community’s children downstairs. Masons provided physical space for the school and, in many cases, paid all or a portion of the teachers’ salary.
Austin Lodge No. 12, A.F. & A.M., was chartered on November 7, 1839, and continues to support this important mission by providing scholarships to help students pursue their education through the establishment of a special endowment known as the Ziller Fund. It is named after a previous lodge member who left a large portion of his estate to establish such a fund.
Questions about applications and the scholarship program, as well as completed applications, should be sent to:
Austin Lodge Number 12