The Pedernales Electric Cooperative will offer $100,000 in scholarships to eligible high school seniors in its service area, according to a Feb. 20 news release from the nonprofit utility cooperative.

Each scholarship recipient must be a senior in public, private or home-schooled education, and his or her parent or legal guardian must be a PEC member.

"We are committed to helping our future leaders grow, and our scholarship program is one way we recognize our responsibility to support the communities we serve," PEC Director of Community Engagement Trista Fugate said.

Scholarships will range from $2,500-$10,000 and can be used to pay expenses at any accredited university, college, junior college, technical school or trade school.

Recipients will be selected based on their applications and an essay. This year's essay prompt asks students to share how a PEC Scholarship would help them achieve their educational and career goals, according to the release.

Applications are judged by an independent panel. All scholarship materials must be submitted online by  March 21 at http://pec.coop/scholarship.