Thanks to the generosity of Dr. Gloria Bousley, the Gloria Bousley Graduate Scholarship was established to provide scholarships to IBEA member graduate students who are actively pursuing business teacher education careers, specializing in business education at the master’s degree level in an Illinois state-approved teacher education program. Dr. Bousley was very active in state educational organizations and served as President of the Illinois Business Education Association. Funds for this scholarship come from the interest from her endowment from her estate that was earmarked for IBEA. Graduate level students may earn a scholarship in one of two ways:

The scholarship awards $2,500 for outstanding graduate student(s) specializing in business education at the graduate level (Master’s degree in Business Education).

Business education graduate students not enrolled in a master’s program may receive up to $500 per semester for further certification endorsement, or post-baccalaureate advance study in the area of business or technology for business. The applicant must be teaching in a business education program during the next school year in the area in which they are obtaining the certification, endorsement, or post-baccalaureate advanced study area.

Scholarships may be paid directly to the university/college or the recipient.


Graduate Scholarship Eligibility Requirements


Application Procedures

Applicants must submit the following to the Scholarship Chair postmarked on or before the semester due date.

  1. Completed application form available at the IBEA website (www.ibea.org).
  2. An essay stating the reasons the applicant has selected business education as a career and wishes to further pursue studies.
  3. College transcripts for undergraduate degree and any advanced degrees and/or coursework, if not already received a with previous application.
  4. If applying for the $2,500 scholarship, please send the course schedule for summer/fall or spring semesters.
  5. If applying for a $500 scholarship, please send current semester and future summer/fall/spring semester teaching load signed off by the department or division chair in addition to classes signed up for.
  6. Two letters of recommendation.

Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. The IBEA Scholarship Committee will make the final selections and notify all applicants of the results as soon as possible. Scholarship recipients will be recognized at the IBEA Fall Conference in November.

All forms and other necessary materials to apply for an IBEA scholarship are now available only in the Forms & Documents section under Downloadable Documents. Click the link at the top of the page to access them. You may directly link to the scholarship download section by clicking here.

Application Deadline: June 15th of each calendar year
All applications must be postmarked or received electronically on or before the above date in order to be considered.

Send completed applications to:
Dr. Gary Hutchinson
IBEA Executive Director
3610 Hennepin Drive
Joliet, IL 60431
Phone: 815.483.4056
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.