Otto Scholarship

Richard and Lorayne Otto first met in Auto-Owners’ Underwriting Department in 1951. They both worked for Auto-Owners until their retirement. Reflecting on their time with the company, Dick Otto shared, "During the many years of association and employment, we have received many blessings from Auto-Owners and wanted to do something for the company that has given us so much."

To give back, the couple established the Dick and Lorayne Otto Scholarship Fund, dedicated to helping dependents of Auto-Owners employees pursue undergraduate education. Since its inception in 2007, the fund has awarded more than a total of one million dollars in scholarships!

WHO MAY APPLY:

Legal dependents of Auto-Owners Insurance Group employees across the U.S. (not affiliates) are eligible to apply for this scholarship. The employee must be in good standing as verified by the HR department.
Student applicants must be a senior in high school, or in the last year of a dual-enrollment or early college program.
Student must plan to enroll full time at an accredited educational institution in the United States.
Application must be completed by the student, not the parent/guardian.

SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS: Award amounts are typically up to $3,000 per award, depending on the number of applicants and available funding. This is a one-time, non-renewable and non-refundable award, which will be sent directly to the college for deposit in the student’s account.

SELECTION COMMITTEE: The fund is administered by the Capital Region Community Foundation located in Lansing, Michigan. The Otto Scholarship Selection Committee consists of 8-12 independent reviewers with no conflict of interest with Auto-Owners or its employees. It is the intent of the scholarship committee that all applications will be given a fair and balanced evaluation, based on the established criteria.

TIMELINE: The 2026 application period is December 19, 2025 - March 4, 2026. Applicants will be notified no later than the end of May of 2026. Awarded students must request the funds or an extension before October 1, 2027.

SCORING CRITERIA:

Excellent academic performance (may include GPA, SAT or ACT scores).
Substantial participation in extracurricular activities–community service, employment, clubs & groups, sports, etc.
Two recent and relevant letters of recommendation from non-family members.
High quality and effort in the application and narrative answers – proofread and spell check, attention to required character limits.
To a lesser extent, the student's financial need and/or extenuating life circumstances are considered.

Application deadline is WEDNESDAY MARCH 4, 2026 by 8:00 pm. Please plan ahead!

Allow enough time to gather the required information which includes your recent high school transcript, an essay, and two reference letters from non-family members. No applications will be accepted after the 8 pm deadline, even in the event of submission errors, so please allow time to ask for assistance if you need it along the way. Take a look at our sample application to see what will be asked on the online application.

SAMPLE OTTO SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION - for review only, do not submit

If you have questions about the Otto Scholarship, please contact scholarship coordinator Tracy Russman at 517-927-7729 or trussman@ourcommunity.org.