Scholarship Details

Scholarship Award: $2,500

• Four scholars will receive $2,500 each.

• The award will be sent directly to recipients via ACH or check and it will be considered a taxable income; OCA will send a 1099-NEC form to you at beginning of the following year, meaning you/your family will need to include it in the next tax filing season. Scholars will be asked to complete a W-9 form to receive the award.

Eligibility

• Applicants must currently be enrolled as an undergraduate student at an accredited undergraduate institution and starting their final year of undergrad in Fall 2027.

• Applicants must be first-gen, meaning your parent(s)/guardian(s) did not earn a bachelor’s degree or higher.

• Applicants do not need to be a U.S. citizen. DACA students or undocumented students must have a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to be eligible for this scholarship.

• If awarded a scholarship, applicants may be required to submit either a 2026 or 2027 tax return.

• Applicants must not have been a previous OCA-UPS® Gold Mountain Scholarship recipient (as a high school senior).

• Applicants must not be a child or dependent of:

  • an OCA National staff member,

  • an OCA Executive Council member,

  • or an OCA Business Advisory Council member.

Application Requirements

• Short Bio (300 words max).

  • This should include your background, identity, school, major/minor, work/experience, interests, etc. This info will be used on our website if you are selected to be a scholar. If you’d like to see examples of what this short bio should look like, please refer to our previous scholars page.

• Academic Transcript (in PDF format; unofficial transcripts are also accepted)

  • Your transcript must include the first quarter/semester of your freshman year of college through at least the final quarter/semester of your junior year of college corresponding with your application.

• Resume (in PDF format)

  • Two single-sided pages max

• Experiences

  • There will be a section in the application form asking you to provide details on three types of experiences you may have:

    • Leadership experience

    • Community Service/Volunteer experience

    • Employment/Work experience

  • For each type of experience, you can list up to three of your most prominent and relevant experiences. It’s okay if you don’t have experiences in all three categories because everyone has different circumstances.

• Two (2) Short Answer Responses (300 words max each)

  • Short Answer Prompt 1: What has your experience been like as a first-generation college student?

  • Short Answer Prompt 2: What are you studying in college and why? What are your personal and professional plans/goals after you graduate college/university?

• One (1) Essay Response (in PDF format, 500 words max)

  • Essay Prompt: Susan Sontag wrote,“Silence remains, inescapably, a form of speech.” Write about an issue or a situation in which you remained silent, and explain how silence may speak in ways that you did or did not intend.

• Two (2) Professional References

  • Include their name, title/position, email, phone number, and their relationship to you.

  • References must be able to describe their experiences with you in a professional capacity. We may contact one or both of your references if we determine the need to ask them about you and your application.

  • Please note, this scholarship is not asking for a letter of recommendation.