Local Need-Based and Merit-Based Scholarships
In the Greater Los Angeles area, some local need-based and merit-based financial aid is available to qualified, local Los Angeles area high school students and is based on donations provided to our local scholarship fund.
Students must meet the following eligibility requirements to be considered for a local scholarship:
- Ages 15 -18 years old
- Scholarship award is based on the economic needs of each individual student
- Submit a FAST application to determine if you qualify for financial assistance and consideration by the AFS Greater Los Angeles Scholarship Committee
- Submit a minimum one-page letter to the AFS Greater Los Angeles Scholarship Committee describing the following in detail:
- A. Why you want to be an AFS exchange student.
- B. How you will promote intercultural awareness upon your return from abroad.
- C. Describe any fundraising you have completed and/or plan to do for your program fee and expenses.
- For self-fundraising ideas, visit AFS-USA Fundraising FAQs
- Establish a personal GoFundMe account
- Parents submit a letter indicating why they feel their child deserves a scholarship
- Submit both letters (PDF Format) to scholarships@afsla.org
- Scholarship recipients agree to become an AFS registered volunteer and to work with the AFS volunteers to “pay it forward” by helping with future fundraising projects that help additional students travel abroad through AFS
Recipients and the amount of each local scholarship are decided by the AFS Greater Los Angeles Scholarship Committee. Please note that all applicants are not guaranteed funding. Scholarship applications are evaluated as they are received.
Donations
To make a donation to our local AFS Greater Los Angeles scholarship fund, below on this page. For more information about our local needs-based or merit-based scholarships, please contact us at scholarships@afsla.org.
More information about our local need-based scholarship can be found on this page.
And, other merit-based scholarship programs can be found here on the AFS-USA website.
For more information, Contact Us.
Additionally, AFS USA provides merit-based scholarships and needs-based financial aid assistance to qualified students.
Below are two US State Department-sponsored merit-based scholarships offered to our students:
NSLI–Y
National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. It provides merit-based scholarships for eligible high school students and recent high school graduates to learn less commonly taught languages in summer and academic-year overseas immersion programs. Languages include Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Korean, Persian (Tajiki), Russian, and Turkish. Learn more about NSLI-Y here!
YES Abroad
The Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Abroad Program provides full scholarships for American high school students to study for one academic year in select countries with significant Muslim populations. Learn more about YES Abroad here!
For more information, Contact Us or visit the AFS-USA website.