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City Year scholarships help offset the cost of your education

Did you know that as a City Year AmeriCorps member or alum, you’re eligible for exclusive scholarships for undergraduate and graduate study—in addition to your Segal Education Award and other benefits and resources? This essay shares information on several scholarships that cover a substantial portion of your tuition costs.

As you may know, City Year AmeriCorps members spend a year serving in classrooms, learning about themselves, their students and our nation’s educational system. Our alums, now 40,000 strong, pursue diverse career paths in business, government, medicine, education and many other fields. Through City Year University Partnerships—a network of higher education institutions providing benefits to members of the City Year community—they can find several exclusive scholarships and discounts to educational institutions across the country.

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Learn about the impact City Year’s alumni are having where they live and work.

These benefits range from application fee waivers to admission deferrals and even full tuition remission.

We understand that choosing to pursue your educational goals can be expensive, so we’ve highlighted five universities across the country that offer 50% to 100% tuition remission:

Boston University | School of Social Work

City Year AmeriCorps members work closely with students, parents and other caring adults in their school communities. They also interface with the systems meant to provide additional support to students and their communities, which can often spark an interest in a career in social work.

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Read more about how City Year can prepare for a social work career.

Boston University awards a 100% tuition scholarship to one City Year applicant annually and 50% to up to two City Year applicants each year for their full-time, on-campus Master of Social Work program.

The 50% and 100% scholarships are renewable in the program’s second year for students in good academic standing.

Carnegie Mellon | Heinz College

Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy in Pittsburgh awards all admitted City Year applicants a scholarship equivalent to a minimum of 50% of current tuition for any program within the Heinz College.

That’s right! If you’re a City Year alum and you are admitted into Heinz College, you are guaranteed a minimum 50% tuition remission with the possibility of additional merit-based awards.

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 If you’re not in the Pittsburgh area but still want to pursue a career in public policy, click here to learn more about additional scholarship opportunities to support your goals!

Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge offers 100% tuition scholarships to at least two City Year applicants each year. The applicant must be enrolled in a full-time degree-granting, graduate-level program at Louisiana State’s flagship Baton Rouge campus. However, it’s important to note that this award does not extend to the Law Center, Health Sciences Center or Louisiana State University Online.

Scholarships include a graduate internship with the Office of Community-University Partnerships, up to 10 hours per week for two semesters of the graduate program. Students will likely work on programming related to K-12 education, with opportunities to serve some hours at City Year Baton Rouge. Unlike other graduate fellowships and internships, this opportunity will not prevent scholars from pursuing employment outside campus.

Pepperdine University | School of Public Policy

All City Year applicants to Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy in sunny Malibu, California, will be eligible to receive a minimum 40% to 70% tuition scholarship, depending on academic performance at a previous institution of higher learning and other factors.

Applicants with a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.7 will receive a minimum 70% scholarship; standardized test score and ethical/moral dilemma essay admission requirements waived. In addition, only one letter of recommendation is required for admission and successful applicants receive automatic acceptance into the Washington, D.C. Policy Scholars program for the summer term immediately preceding your first term of enrollment.

Alums who apply with a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.2 and up to 3.7 will receive a minimum 55% tuition scholarship and will have the standardized test score and ethical/moral dilemma admission requirements waived.

Finally, applicants with an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 and up to 3.2 will receive a minimum of 40% tuition remission.

Saint Mary’s University

Each year, Saint Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, offers up to four City Year alums the opportunity to pursue their undergraduate degree with an annual tuition scholarship valued at 75%. The recipients can renew the scholarships for four years if they maintain a 3.0 GPA or higher.

City Year alums applying to Saint Mary’s College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science, Greehey School of Business and School of Science, Engineering and Technology are eligible for this award.

City Year applicants can also take advantage of application fee waivers and are eligible for a one-year enrollment deferral for accepted students who serve additional time with City Year before starting their studies.

Consider City Year’s complete value proposition

There are many reasons to decide to serve with City Year. Not only will you learn, grow and acquire valuable skills, you’ll also gain access to important resources, such as a bi-weekly stipend to help cover living expenses; professional networking opportunities; and access to grants and scholarships that make future educational opportunities more affordable.

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 Learn more about the Segal Education Award, worth more than $7,395 in 2024 for full-time AmeriCorps members serving 1,700 hours and available for you to use for seven years after you complete your service with City Year.

When deciding about what to do after you graduate from high school or college, we know young people ages 17-25 have many options—and we want to make sure that serving with City Year offers you as many opportunities and benefits as possible!

Do you want to give back to the community and pursue your education without breaking the bank? Click here to learn more!

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