Group offering scholarships to future public service employees

LOS ANGELES –Applications are now available for the 2012 Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Scholarship Program. The SCAG Scholarship, now in its third year, is designed to provide seven high school and community college students a scholarship award of $2,000 each and a two-week externship at a local government agency. Recipients will also have the opportunity to meet with their local government representatives and practicing planners to discuss the importance of urban planning and a future career in public service.

 “Winning the SCAG Scholarship was an unbelievable opportunity that, in the end, altered my future plans,” said UC Berkeley freshman and 2011 SCAG Scholarship recipient Melissa Jeng. “The scholarship not only helped me to pay for college, it also gave me the wonderful experience of working with the professional planners at the City of Irvine. It was through my externship that I discovered how interesting and rewarding a planning career can be and afterward, my decision to major in urban planning was solidified. If it weren’t for the SCAG scholarship, I would not have known exactly what a planning career entails, and thus I would not be as assured in my major choice of urban planning as I am now,” Jeng said.

Applicants must be live in Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino or Ventura counties (the SCAG region) or on Tribal Lands within the SCAG region; be a high school junior or graduating senior or currently enrolled in a two-year community college in the SCAG region; have a 3.0 grade point average or higher; and must be available for a two-week externship with a local planning agency during Summer 2012.

In addition to the application form, applicants must complete a 500-word essay and submit two letters of recommendation and their current school transcript.

The scholarship application and more information are available on the SCAG website at www.scag.ca.gov/scholarship/index.htm or by calling (213) 236-1906.

All materials for the summer 2012 SCAG Scholarship Program must be postmarked by March 9.