ARLINGTON, Texas – The United States Bowling Congress Scholarship Management and Account Reporting for Tenpins (SMART) program is making an investment earnings allocation of $7 million to provide additional scholarships for youth bowlers. The $7 million allocation is consistent with funding provided since 2022 and matches the largest investment earnings allocation in SMART history.

In addition to the earnings allocation, SMART is allocating $500,000 in earnings to support USBC national scholarship programs. This funding will provide additional scholarships to the USA Bowling program as well as other USBC conducted national programs.  

Due to policy adopted in 2021, a portion of annual investment earnings immediately goes to new scholarships for youth bowlers. SMART is progressively paying more benefits for students every year. In 2024, SMART processed the largest total disbursements in program history, reaching $13 million. This exceeds the previous record set in 2023 of $11.3 million.  

Included in the 2024 allocation:

• $2.6 million in bonus scholarships to the 7,127 active SMART Recipients. These are students who used SMART funds in 2024. Each student will immediately receive a new $365 SMART scholarship.
• $1.8 million in new SMART deposited unassigned funds for Providers to allocate toward future scholarships. This is in addition to the new $3.3 million SMART deposited unassigned funds Providers received for allocation in January from expired Recipient accounts.
• $2.6 million is set aside for the SMART Pell Grant Match Program for the 2025-2026 academic year.

“The SMART program keeps growing every year and helping more kids than ever before pay for education,” USBC President Dennis Hacker said. “We are proud to announce another meaningful earnings allocation which will benefit our youth bowlers, SMART providers and the sport overall.”

New for 2025, SMART has adjusted requirements for the SMART Pell Grant Match program. To be eligible for the program, recipients must have four prior years of USBC membership history, with at least one of the four being a youth membership, and have a current SMART scholarship account balance less than $1,000. These changes are intended to ensure that engaged recipients with several years of youth bowling and immediate need receive funding priority. The new criteria will apply to all applicants in the 2025-2026 school year.

The federal Pell Grant is a national program that helps students and families with the greatest financial need pay for college. The SMART Pell Grant Match maximizes the power of this federal program for bowlers by matching it dollar for dollar. Students can request the SMART Pell Grant Match by visiting BOWL.com/SMART.

“Applications for the SMART Pell Grant Match program have increased every year,” said Frank Wilkinson, chair of the USBC SMART Committee. “We have a lot of youth bowlers in financial need who want to pursue education after high school. SMART helps make it happen and reduces the need to take out student loans.”

In 2021, the USBC Board of Directors approved a series of policy changes for SMART, designed to increase scholarship benefits for SMART Recipients. The new policy allocates a portion of investment gains to be awarded as new scholarships in SMART Recipient accounts.

For more information on SMART, visit BOWL.com/SMART.