Potential recipients of the award are incoming freshmen and first-year sophomores for the Culver Military Academy or Culver Girls Academy. The scholarship covers full tuition, room and board, uniforms, books, a service project during spring break of the sophomore year, and a community building and leadership experience in the summer before the senior year for students attending Culver Military Academy or Culver Girls Academy.

A student must submit all application for admission requirements to Culver and have submitted a Duchossois scholarship application by December 15 in order to be considered for the scholarship.

Next February, four extraordinary young men and women will learn they have been selected for an educational experience second to none. They will be recruited from the Chicago area and the greater Midwest, but students from elsewhere may also be nominated. Financial need will be a consideration in the final selection of Duchossois scholars by the selection committee.

Candidates are expected to demonstrate the following: a high level of academic aptitude and enthusiasm for learning, evidence of responsible citizenship and community service, a sense of caring that reaches beyond self, communication skills, capacity for original thought, and mental and physical vitality.