Scholarship Programs

The LA Conservation Corps understands that a high school diploma is a minimum requirement for a young person to survive in today's job market. For this reason, we offer our graduates scholarship opportunities to help them pursue post-secondary education and vocational training. We also help students make this transition out of high school by assisting them with forms and answering general questions about the application process.

All of our youth participants are made aware of the three (3) privately-funded scholarship opportunities available to them to pursue their higher education goals when they leave our program. All of our cash scholarships are awarded upon confirmation that our graduates are enrolled in post-secondary education.

Russell Kantor Scholarship Fund
First, we have an in-house scholarship fund made possible by private donations raised at our annual fundraising luncheon. Created in 1989, this in-house fund awards generous cash scholarships to allow students to pursue higher education. Recent scholars have attended local community colleges, state universities, the University of Southern California and the University of Chicago, among others. To date, this in-house scholarship fund has awarded $876,750 to 718 scholars.

Teague Family Scholarship Fund
Our second scholarship opportunity is awarded annually along with the Russell Kantor Scholarship for past or current corpsmembers pursuing post-secondary education. To date, the Teague Family Scholarship Fund has awarded $32,500 to 26 scholars.

Fred J. Aves Vocational Education Fund
Our third scholarship opportunity comes from the Fred J. Aves Vocational Education Fund administered by the California Community Foundation (CCF). We have partnered with CCF since 2002 to provide 83 scholarships for individuals interested in obtaining education and/or training in a vocational field. The LA Conservation Corps selects up to 20 scholars each year to receive awards of $4,000 that can be used to cover expenses related to school tuition, books and other supplies. We have helped scholars enroll in healthcare courses at Maric College and pursue the culinary arts at the California School of Culinary Arts. Since 2002, we have awarded $228,000 in scholarship funds to 79 Fred J. Aves Scholars.

AmeriCorps Education Awards
Corpsmembers who participate in the Young Adult Corps can take advantage of a third scholarship opportunity that applies paid on-the-job training and service hours towards an AmeriCorps Education Award of up to $4725. To date, 215 Young Adult Corps corpsmembers have earned $375,166 in AmeriCorps Education Awards.

For more information on any of these four scholarships, please contact Jian Huang, Scholarship Coordinator, jhuang@lacorps.org or (213) 362-9000 x.255.

Scholars from the 2008 Annual Luncheon Celebration.

Former corpsmember and scholarship alumna Regina Chagolla. She is currently attending graduate school at UC Berkeley.

Scholarship recipients Danielle Alberts and Maria Carrillo at the 2009 Annual Luncheon Celebration.