Margaret E. Oser Scholarship Fund
The Orange County Community Foundation has established a scholarship program to assist females currently enrolled at a Southern California – Orange County community college who plan to transfer to a four-year college.
Margaret E. Oser Scholarship Fund
The Orange County Community Foundation has established the Margaret E. Oser Scholarship Fund to assist females currently enrolled at a Southern California – Orange County community college who are planning to transfer to a four-year college or university for the upcoming academic year.
The program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarships and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations, and individuals. Eligibility for individual programs is determined at the sole discretion of the sponsor and eligible applications are reviewed by Scholarship America’s evaluation team.
Eligibility
Applicants to the Margaret E. Oser Scholarship Fund must meet all of the following criteria:
- Identify as female.
- Be currently enrolled at one of the following Orange County community colleges (or had attended one of these schools and were previously awarded the Margaret E. Oser scholarship):
- Cypress College
- Fullerton College
- Santiago Canyon College
- Santa Ana College
- Saddleback College
- Golden West College
- Coastline Community College
- Orange Coast College
- Irvine Valley College
- Be planning to transfer to a four-year college or university (or have already transferred and were selected as a previous recipient) and will be enrolled full-time for the entire upcoming academic year.
- Must have completed at least two full-time enrollment semesters with 24 transferable credits to a four-year college or university.
- Have a minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale.
- Declared a Major.
Awards
If selected as a recipient, the student will receive an award ranging from $2,500-$5,000.
Awards are not renewable; however, students may reapply to the program each year they meet eligibility requirements. Preference will be given to previous award recipients.
Awards are for undergraduate study only.
Notification
Applicants will be notified in July. Not all applicants to the program will be selected as recipients.
Notifications are sent via email. When setting up your account, avoid using a school or work email. Instead, use an active, personal email address that you will continue to have access to.
Please make sure to add studentsupport@scholarshipamerica.org as well as the program email address as safe senders in your email contact list.
Payment of Scholarships
Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of The Orange County Community Foundation. Payments are made in one installment in early August.
Selection of Recipients
Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:
- Academic performance
- Demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
- Work experience
- A statement of educational and career goals and objectives
- Unusual personal or family circumstances
- An online recommendation from an educational instructor
Financial need will be considered. Recipients must demonstrate need.
Scholarship America will select ten finalists and the Orange County Community Foundation will select recipients. All applicants agree to accept the decision as final.
Requirements
As part of your application, you must upload the following:
- A current, complete transcript of grades. Grade reports are not accepted. Transcripts must display:
- Student name
- School name
- Grades
- Credit hours for each course and term in which each course was taken.
NOTE: If you are providing SAT or ACT test scores, and those scores are not listed on your high school transcript, you will need to upload a copy of your test score report(s) separately. If you are uploading a college transcript, those scores are not required.
One online recommendation form from an educational instructor must be submitted on your behalf no later than May 7, 2026 3:00 PM Central Time / 1:00 PM Pacific Time.
Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.
