Co-Venture

The Life Scholar Project was born out of a desire to help non-traditional learners in need. We want to make a difference in the lives of at-risk students, one child at a time. We started the Life Scholar Project to support people outside the scope of traditional academic grants and promote our three core values – Aspiring for more, Inspire others, & Show empathy. Our program provides access to subject matter experts (mentors) and educational scholarships up to $1000 for students in alternative programs as students enroll in state accredited trade schools, junior colleges or universities. Please join us to support at-risk and non-traditional students longing for higher education.

The Life Scholar Project

The Life Scholar Project was created to match educational financial assistance with the people who need it most. Our goal is to help them accomplish their dreams of higher education. As any parent, faculty member, or high school student knows, there is plenty of financial assistance and opportunity for our highest academic achievers.

The best and brightest in our schools get scholarships and grants for their hard work. However, many students who take non-traditional paths to graduation face significant challenges if they decide to go on to trade school, junior college or university.

Financial barriers, in addition to the other hurdles they face, can either prevent them from attending trade school / college or burden them with heavy payments for decades. We’re committed to making things easier for alternate students who often don’t qualify for traditional scholarship programs.

It’s our goal to promote higher education and a pathway to post-secondary education for students in underserved communities around the country. The Life Scholar Project Scholarship along with Aspire to Inspire Us Program helps build future leaders and fosters a culture of higher education across a broader spectrum by delivering aid where it has the greatest impact.

Our Mission

Helping alternate students achieve their dreams is our passion. We’re building a network of donors to promote higher education for non-traditional / at-risk students across the country.

When our son graduated from high school, we saw firsthand how beneficial it is to get an academic scholarship for college. We also realized that most scholarships focus on students with stellar academic records. It made us to think about how we could make a difference in the lives of students who may struggle academically on top of dealing with financial and other life challenges. We started the Life Scholar Project to promote people outside the scope of traditional academic rewards.

Aspire to Inspire Us Program

Our program is designed to help alternate / at-risk students aspire, inspire, and to show empathy by creating a pathway to success for people searching for more..

Our goal is simple, to support alternate / at-risk students as they enroll in state-accredited trade schools & colleges with $500 – $1000 scholarships paid directly to the schools. We hope that, over time, the amount of scholarships available for each grant will grow as more donors & well wishers supports the Life Scholar Project.

The Life Scholar Project’s Aspire to Inspire Us program seeks to create a pathway to success in life. The three leaves in our logo represent three core values we hope to instill in our students and everyone involved in the program. Aspire to Inspire Us program positively impacts students in the country and furthers our goals.

With each candidate, we work hard to foster an environment that provides the community support and financial assistance they need to succeed.

To Aspire

We believe in the power of aspiration. Many of our candidates come from backgrounds where it’s easy to believe that a higher education is out of reach. Our program focuses on promoting self-confidence as the foundation for success.

To Inspire

We believe that after working toward and achieving goals, it’s everyone’s responsibility to inspire others to do the same. The best way to inspire others to succeed is to show them someone in a similar situation who rose above challenging circumstances to succeed. Each of our candidates should have a desire to lift other students in similar situations and carry a lifelong passion for service.

To Show Empathy

Decisions on scholarships are made by a community of program administrators, well-wishers, and volunteers. Not only does the “Aspire to Inspire Us” program target alternate students, but each candidate is chosen anonymously to protect privacy of applicant by a community of volunteers that includes their peers supervised by scholarship evaluation committee in compliance with our privacy policy.

Focusing on Alternative Educational Programs

We work with Alternative Education Programs (AEP) and Alternate School Programs (ASP) in various states to support driven students get ahead..

In the United States, the public school system operates Alternative Education Programs (AEPs) or Alternate School Programs (ASPs) that serve students, “whose life circumstances could result or have resulted in an interruption of their education or in their dropping out of school; or students who may need a smaller school environment to thrive.”

Students who are eligible and participate in AEPs/ASPs are often:

Low-income
Minorities
Non-native English speakers
Drop-outs returning to school
Children with behavioral challenges
Have learning difficulties
Pregnant
Dealing with challenging home environments
Facing disciplinary action

By focusing on Alternative Educational Programs, the Life Scholar Project helps students who need it most. AEPs and ASPs exist to provide every student a path to high school graduation and a chance at a university or technical degree. These programs broaden student horizons as they learn about the world around them.

For many of these students, the AEP they attend is the start of working toward a university education. Many of them are the first high school graduates in their families, and relatively few of them have family members who are college graduates.

These first-generation students deserve financial support and a promising future. Given the chance, they contribute to their communities with unique experience and insight.

Support for the Juvenile Justice Reentry Program

At any moment, there are over 60,000 youths and young adults in the United States juvenile justice system. The Juvenile Justice Reentry Program provides support for troubled youth as they transition out of the justice system and into trade schools or colleges. Every year, the Life Scholar Project awards program graduates with scholarship grants to incentivize completion and deliver support that will help students pay down debt and get started as they begin their careers.

The Life Scholar Project allocates donation resources to the Juvenile Justice Reentry Education Program.

According to the Juvenile Justice Reentry Program, more than 60,000 people younger than 21 years old are living inside juvenile justice facilities across the country. Children and youths inside juvenile detention facilities come from troubled pasts with poor academic records. Many of them complete their time in the juvenile justice system with dim education and career prospects.

The Juvenile Justice Reentry Program exists to help at-risk youths integrate back into society and start them on a path toward skill development via technical education. With a focus on education in conjunction with reentry support services, the program improves reentry prospects for these young adults.

When a student completes their technical education or graduates from trade school / college as part of the reentry program, it can break the cycle that so many in the juvenile justice system find themselves in. Armed with an education and a community of support, participants can change the course of their lives forever.

Promoting Juvenile Justice Reentry Successes

As part of our mission to deliver scholarship grants to students who need it most, the Life Scholar Project is proud to support juvenile justice reentry program students. As part of our Aspire to Inspire Us scholarship program we:

● Offer scholarships grants of $500-$1,000 to reentry program students who graduate from an accredited trade school / college program.

● As part of our effort to inspire at-risk students, each scholarship recipient is encouraged to share their success stories virtually or in-person with other students in the program.

The scholarship grants are an appropriate celebration of their accomplishments and incentivize program participants to graduate and start their careers on the right foot.

Candidates Who Inspire Us!

Are you currently enrolled in an Alternate Education Program (AEP)/ Alternate School Program (ASP)/ Non-Traditional High School / Juvenile Justice Reentry program (JJRP)? Do you know an outstanding student who is? Reach out to us to learn more about our program and how we can help you with your education goals!

Are you currently enrolled or are a recent graduate of an Alternate Education Program (AEP)/ Alternate School Program (AEP)/ Non-Traditional High School / Juvenile Justice Reentry Education Program with higher education goals? We want to hear from you about your journey, your goals, and how the alternate program shaped your experience. We want to know about how the Life Scholar Project can help you take the next step in your education. Reach out to us to learn how to apply for a Life Scholar Project scholarship.

For Teachers, Counselors & Administrators

Learn how you can help your students qualify for a Life Scholar Project scholarship. We count on our teachers and other educators to shine a spotlight on deserving candidates..

Please contact us if you are a teacher, administrator, counselor, or are otherwise involved in Alternative Education Programs and want to nominate one of your students for a Life Scholar Project scholarship. We appreciate the efforts of so many educators and understand you often know where aid should go.

As a teacher, counselor, or administrator, not only can you donate and help improve opportunities for alternate students, but you can also influence where aid is allocated for the best results.

By joining the Life Scholar Project, each donation has an outsized impact. Whether it’s a one-time donation or a recurring donation, every dollar works to ease the financial burden of our candidates.

We hope that the Life Scholar Project will grow to give aid to more students each year. As you and other contributors donate money to the cause, our team can offer critical financial assistance to more incredible students who are in need and at risk.