EAST LANSING — The Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Scholar-Athlete Award will again award 32 $1,000 scholarships to top student-athletes at member high schools during the 2010-11 school year, and schools will soon be closing their application periods so they can submit their nominees to the MHSAA during the first week of December.

Underwritten by Farm Bureau Insurance, the Scholar-Athlete Award highlights the value that extra-curricular activities play in the total education of a high school student, often improving their academic achievements in the process. The Scholar-Athlete Award is in its 21st year. Since its inception in 1989-90, Farm Bureau Insurance has presented $511,000 in scholarships through this program.

The first 30 scholarships will be presented on a graduated basis across the MHSAA’s traditional class structure. From Class A schools, six boys and six girls will receive scholarships; from Class B schools, four boys and four girls; from Class C schools, three boys and three girls; and from Class D schools, two boys and two girls will be honored. The final two scholarships will be at-large minority selections, regardless of school size. The scholarships may be used at the institution of higher learning the recipients attend during the first year at those colleges.

Applications from individual schools will be limited to the number of available scholarships in their Class. Class A schools may submit the names of six boys and six girls; Class B schools may submit four boys and four girls; Class C may submit three boys and three girls; and Class D may submit two boys and two girls.

Students applying for the Scholar-Athlete Award must be graduating during the 2010-11 school year, be carrying an unrounded 3.50 (on a 4.0) grade point average, and have won a varsity letter in a sport in which the MHSAA sponsors a post-season tournament prior to their senior year.

The sports the MHSAA sponsors post-season competition are baseball, girls and boys basketball, girls and boys bowling, girls competitive cheer (not sideline cheerleading, dance or pom pon), girls and boys cross country, football, girls and boys golf, girls gymnastics, ice hockey, girls and boys lacrosse, girls and boys skiing, girls and boys soccer, softball, girls and boys swimming and diving, girls and boys tennis, girls and boys track and field, girls volleyball, and wrestling.

Applicants will be required to show involvement in other school-community activities and submit an essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.

Applications are available only in digital format. The downloadable forms on the MHSAA Web site need only be saved to a computer, filled out in nearly any word processing program — in Windows or Macintosh platforms — and then printed out to be attached to the required essay and letters of recommendation. Students should submit their applications to their school athletic director, principal or guidance counselor by Nov. 22.

Students should check with their school administration to determine who the internal coordinator for the program is, and if the school has an earlier internal application deadline. Schools have additional materials to submit with student applications, and each school must submit all of its applications at one time. Individually mailed applications to the MHSAA office will not be accepted.

The application materials are available online on the Scholar-Athlete Award page of the MHSAA Website.

A committee composed of school administrators from across the state will select regional and statewide winners in early February, with the winners to be announced later in the month. All applicants, finalists and scholarship recipients will be announced on the MHSAA website.

The 32 scholarship recipients will be recognized at the MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing on March 26, 2011.