Community Bankers Association of Georgia Hester Scholarship
Scholarship Sponsored by Community Bankers Association of Georgia
Purpose and background
The Julian & Jan Hester Memorial Scholarship was created to support deserving Georgia high school seniors during their first year of college and to encourage interest in community banking. The award honors longtime CBA Chief Executive Officer Julian Hester and his daughter Jan Hester. Jan, who was a senior at the University of Georgia, died in an automobile accident on April 15, 1990. Beyond promoting community banking, the scholarship seeks to perpetuate the positive qualities Julian and Jan Hester represented for future generations.
Eligibility
- Open to Georgia high school seniors who plan to enroll as full-time students in a Georgia university, college, or technical institute (program length two years or more) for the fall semester of 2026. If a recipient does not begin school in that semester, the scholarship funds will be awarded to another eligible student.
- Applicants must have a sponsoring community bank that is a member of the Community Bankers Association of Georgia (CBA). Applicants do not need to be customers of the sponsoring bank.
Required application materials (Please do not staple — use paper clips only.)
All original documents must be mailed or hand-delivered to your sponsoring bank by the stated deadline. Failure to submit every item listed below will result in immediate disqualification.
1. Completed scholarship application, including an essay about community banking.
2. Candidate Activity Record.
3. One-page Candidate Qualification sheet completed by a teacher (Mathematics, Science, or Humanities). This form must be mailed to the sponsoring bank by the teacher.
4. Official high school transcript (provided by the high school counselor).
5. Printout of SAT and/or ACT scores, if these scores do not appear on the transcript.
Submission instructions
All originals should be delivered or mailed to the sponsoring community bank; the sponsoring bank will forward qualifying applications to the CBA by its internal deadline. Materials must be received by the Community Bank President and/or CEO on or before the due date to be considered.
Selection process
- Applications submitted by CBA member community banks will be reviewed. Those with the strongest scores, most compelling essays, notable school and community involvement, and favorable teacher recommendations will be forwarded to the Julian & Jan Hester Memorial Scholarship Judging Committee.
- The Judging Committee — composed of representatives from CBA member banks and Associate Member companies — will meet to select four (4) scholarship recipients. The CBA will notify the sponsoring community bank president of the committee’s decisions. Winners will be notified by both the sponsoring bank and the CBA.
- If an awarded scholarship is not used, the committee may either add awards in the following year or reassign the funds to a semi-finalist, at its discretion.
Evaluation criteria
Submitted applications will be evaluated using the following factors:
A. High school academic record/transcript
B. SAT and/or ACT printout (if scores are not on the transcript)
C. Teacher qualification statement
D. Essay on community banking
E. Activity Record (leadership roles, extracurricular activities, honors, community service, awards)
Awards and conditions
- Four (4) scholarships of $1,000 each will be funded annually by the Community Bankers Association of Georgia and its membership.
- Scholarship checks are paid by the CBA directly to the student’s chosen college, university, or technical institute into an account in the student’s name and are to be applied toward tuition, books, and related expenses.
- The student must be registered as a full-time student before the school will receive payment. Awards are one-time and nonrenewable.
- Individual community banks may, at their discretion, offer an additional scholarship to their own applicant, but they are not required to do so.
Notification and timeline
Finalists will be chosen by the CBA; the four (4) recipients will be announced by the end of April 2026. Recipients will be informed via the sponsoring community bank and the Community Bankers Association of Georgia.