Compton Scholarship Program

--- INSTRUCTIONS FOR APPLICANT---

Thank you for your interest in the John Gogian Family Foundation Scholarship Program. Applicants must have a minimum 3.0 Grade Point Average in order to apply. The following (4) items must be included in your application packet:

1. Scholarship Application

To be completed by the student applicant. All three pages of the application must be filled in. Leave no blank spaces.
- Download: Scholarship Application (PDF)

2. Student Essay

To be completed by the applicant and attached to the application.

3. Parental Authorization Form

To be signed by your parent or guardian. Take the (to release school records) signed Authorization Form to your School Secretary or Registrar. Collect the sealed transcript from the counselor and include it with your completed application packet.
- Download: Parental Authorization Form

4. Recommendation Letter

To be completed by a teacher, school counselor, community leader, or employer. Include the Recommendation Letter with your completed application packet.

Your completed application packet containing: (1) the three-page scholarship application, (2) the student essay, (3) the sealed school transcripts (including your grades for the 1st semester of 12th grade), and (4) a recommendation letter, must be postmarked by 5 p.m. on March 17th.

Our staff and Scholarship Committee will review all of the applications. The recipients of the $16,000 scholarships will be announced in late April.

History of the Scholarship Program

One year prior to the inception of the Foundation, Mr. Gogian began offering scholarships to students in the Compton Unified School District.

In 1981, Mr. Gogian met Frank Spight, who was then Principal of Tibby Elementary School in Compton and expressed a desire to fund scholarships for financially disadvantaged youths. With this impetus, Mr. Spight organized a scholarship committee, utilizing administrators from the Compton Unified School District who screened and selected the winners. Mr. Spight handled all of the administrative duties, including the issuance of scholarship checks and correspondence with the students and universities. That first year, the Foundation awarded one student a $20,000 scholarship and had seven runners-up who received smaller awards. In 1992, the Foundation began administrating the program directly with the Compton School District and the students.

In 2004, the Foundation revised the program, bringing most of the components in-house. More of the responsibility was placed on the students, who are now required to submit to the Foundation an application, an essay, their official transcripts, and reference letters. The Foundation's Program Associate is responsible for the general operations of the scholarship program, including 1) coordination with the high school counselors, 2) attendance at the Back-To-School nights to bring awareness of the scholarship program to the parents, 3) distribution of the applications, posters, and press releases, 4) reviewing, copying, and distributing the applications to the Scholarship Committee, 5) chairing the Scholarship Committee meetings, and 6) preparations for the scholarship dinner.

The Foundation recruited four community members to serve on the newly established Scholarship Committee. The Committee is charged with the responsibility of reviewing all of the applications, selecting the winners, and providing support to the students once they are in college.

In 2004, the Foundation also decided to award three scholarships-one to each of Compton's three high schools. The three scholarship recipients receive $16,000 each to use over four years at a community college, a 4-year university, or an accredited trade school.

The Foundation sponsors a scholarship dinner for the winners, their families, school officials, and all of the Foundation's Board, Staff, and Committee members. Past recipients attend to share about their college experiences and encourage the new recipients.

The Foundation makes an annual distribution of $4,000 for each recipient to the financial aid office at their college. Funds may be used for tuition, fees, books, and room and board. Scholarship recipients must maintain a 2.5 GPA and send the Foundation official school transcripts and an essay once a year.