The OCTA Scholarship Foundation has provided 668 scholarships in the last 20 years
ORANGE – The Orange County Transportation Authority recently held its annual scholarship event, where $14,500 in scholarships was awarded to students made possible through funds donated by OCTA employees.
The OCTA Scholarship Fund provided 27 students with $500 awards to offset their college tuition and help advance their academic careers.
The program also highlights one student as the recipient of the CEO Award of $1,000. This year the award was given to Andrew Rogan of Foothill Ranch.
Rogan is the son of Alice Rogan, the Director of Marketing and Public Outreach at OCTA. Rogan is studying Aerospace Engineering at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
"Each year I am impressed by the ambitions of the students who apply for the scholarship opportunity and helping these students further their education is something we can all be very proud of,” said OCTA CEO Darrell E. Johnson. “OCTA supports this employee-funded program recognizing that college is a valuable investment that benefits not only the individual but the communities in which students live and work."
Since the start of the program in 1998, the employee-funded program has awarded more than 600 scholarships totaling $361,000. The number of scholarships awarded each year is dependent on the total amount of money donated by OCTA employees and through fundraising events.
The OCTA Scholarship Fund benefits children and grandchildren of OCTA employees and OCTA interns who are attending an accredited college or trade school full time. To be eligible, students must be between 17 and 25 years old and have a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.5.
Applicants are required to provide two reference letters and to submit an essay describing their reasons for wishing to attend college. The scholarship committee, comprised of volunteers, reviews the applications and selects recipients.
