Raymond and Velma Merkle Scholarship – Manual H.S. (UA)

The Raymond and Velma Merkle Scholarship supports first-generation college students from Manual High School who are active in their school and community.

Eligibility

  • Graduating from Manual High School during the current academic school year
  • Cumulative unweighted GPA of 2.75+Will be a first-generation college student (i.e. a student whose parents and grandparents did not graduate from college, students with siblings who are in college or who have graduated from college are eligible for this scholarship)
  • Have an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) or Student Aid Index (SAI) of $10,000 or less
  • Currently active in their school or community
  • Planning to attend a trade school, technical school, community college, or a 4-year accredited college in Colorado

Selection criteria

Applications will be reviewed based on:

  • Financial need
  • Academic performance
  • Extracurricular activities and leadership

Award details

  • Scholarship Range: Varies
  • Typical Number of Awards: Varies
  • This scholarship is a one-time award
  • Award amounts may be used towards recipient’s tuition, fees, room, board, books, supplies, room, board, and other required educational expenses.
  • All scholarships will be paid directly to a recipient’s post-secondary institution. Award disbursement is contingent upon the outside scholarship policies of a recipient’s post-secondary institution
  • Award must be used for the upcoming academic year

How to apply 

  1. Read through the eligibility criteria above to confirm you meet the requirements for this scholarship opportunity  
  2. Log into TDF Scholarship Manager and apply for the Universal Application
  3. Prepare and submit the following items:  
    1. List of all extracurricular activities and community volunteering opportunities you have had   
    2. Transcript  
    3. Email address for one recommendation
      1. One community recommendation
    4. Response to the following prompt(s):
      1. Where and how do you show leadership in your day-to-day life/activities?  

Photo credit: Manual High School

Raymond And Velma Merkle Scholarship 1 Aspect Ratio 1 1

At a Glance

  • Status: Closed
  • Opening Date: December 15, 2025
  • Closing Date: February 27, 2026
  • Typical Scholarship Range: Varies

Application

The Denver Foundation will be utilizing a universal application process for many of our competitive scholarship opportunities. The universal application helps to match you with all available scholarship opportunities through a series of questions in the first half of the process. 

After completing the first half of the process, you will be asked to complete supplemental questions for all scholarship opportunities you were matched with. Learn more about how universal applications work by watching this short, 5-minute video.

Our online portal allows applicants to save and edit their work as well as apply for multiple scholarship opportunities. Click the Apply button below to register on The Denver Foundation’s Scholarship Manager to complete your online application. For support using our online system please email help@denverfoundation.org.  

Apply

Contact Adelita Aguirre at aaguirre@denverfoundation.org.

About the donor

Raymond And Velma MerkleRaymond (Ray) Merkle was born on January 22, 1904, in Golden Colorado. Velma Burkhart was born in Missouri on October 10, 1910 and moved to Denver when she was 4 years old. Both Ray and Velma received their education in the Denver Public School system. After graduating from Manual High School, Velma continued on to the Colorado State Teachers College (known now as the University of Northern Colorado).

Ray and Velma were married in 1929 in Greeley, Colorado. Ray was employed by the First National Bank of Denver for 37 years and was an active Mason. He died at the age of 57 from leukemia. After Ray’s death, Velma worked for the Colorado Game and Fish Department for 21 years before retiring.

Velma was motivated to establish this scholarship because of Ray and Velma’s commitment to each other and their gratitude for the education they received. Though they never had children of their own, it was Velma’s hope that this fund would help a few students each year to pay for some of their higher education expenses. This was Velma’s way of giving back to the Denver community that she so dearly loved. Velma passed away on January 1, 2006.