The Tipton County Foundation (TCF) announced the recipient of the 2026 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship for Tipton County, Lillian Cloud.
Lilly Endowment Community Scholars are known for their community involvement, academic achievement, character, and leadership.
Cloud is a senior at Tipton High School and the daughter of Brandon and Carrie Cloud. She plans to attend either Ball State, Taylor, or Purdue University and obtain a degree in speech language pathology, with the goal of working in a hospital setting in the Tipton County area working with children. She is an exceptional student and community member who serves as the Tipton FFA Chapter President, a member of National Honor Society, and plays on the Lady Devils Soccer Team.
Each Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship provides full tuition, required fees, and a special allocation of up to $900 per year for required books and required equipment for four years. The scholarship is for full-time undergraduate students leading to a baccalaureate degree at any eligible Indiana public or private nonprofit college or university. Lilly Endowment Community Scholars may also participate in the Lilly Scholars Network (LSN), which connects both current scholars and alumni with resources and opportunities to be active leaders on their campuses and in their communities. Both the scholarship program and LSN are supported by grants from Lilly Endowment to Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI).
Twenty-seven members of the Tipton High School Class of 2026 applied for this scholarship. Their applications were reviewed anonymously and independently by TCF’s LECSP Nominating Committee. In determining Tipton County’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholar nominee, consideration was given to academics, leadership, community involvement, extracurricular activities, written essays, and an in-person interview by the TCF LECSP Nominating Committee. After the field of applicants was narrowed down, nominees were submitted to ICI, the statewide administrator of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program, which approves the final selection of scholarship recipients.
Lilly Endowment created the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program for the 1997-98 school year. Since then, grant funding of more than $505 million has supported more than 5,400 Indiana students who have received scholarships through the program.
The primary purposes of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program are: 1) to raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; 2) to increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations play; and 3) to encourage and support Lilly Scholars’ engagement with Indiana leaders to improve quality of life statewide.
About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in Eli Lilly and Company. The Endowment supports community development, education, and religion, with a special commitment to Indianapolis and Indiana.
About Independent Colleges of Indiana
Founded in 1948, ICI serves as the collective voice for the state’s 29 private, nonprofit colleges and universities. ICI institutions employ more than 22,000 Hoosiers and generate a total local economic impact of over $5 billion annually. Students at ICI colleges have Indiana’s highest four-year, on-time graduation rates, and ICI institutions produce 30 percent of Indiana’s bachelor’s degrees while enrolling 20 percent of its undergraduates.
