OCA-UPS® Gold Mountain Scholarship for Rising College Seniors

Since 1999, the OCA-UPS® Gold Mountain Scholarship has supported first-generation Asian American and Pacific Islander students in their pursuit of higher education.

The title of this scholarship program calls back to a time when many Asian immigrants looked upon America as a mountain of golden opportunities for themselves and their families. Awardees of the scholarship seek dreams of higher education, which are not only the dreams of the students but also of their parents and extended family. Since its initiation, the OCA-UPS® Gold Mountain Scholarship has provided over 160 scholarships to Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) first-gen high school seniors.

Since 2020, the OCA-UPS® Gold Mountain Scholarship has been extended to rising college seniors. This year, first-gen college students who identify as AANHPI and will be starting their senior year of college during the upcoming fall term will be awarded $2,500 each.

Deadline: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 at 11:59 PM PST

START YOUR APPLICATION

Meet the Scholars!

Scholar Bios

Scholarship Details

Scholarship Award: $2,500

Please note: If selected as a Gold Mountain Scholar, the award will be sent directly to you via ACH or PayPal (checks are also available) and it will be considered taxable income, meaning you/your family will need to include it in the next tax filing season. Scholars will be asked to complete a W-9 form to receive the award.

Application Deadline: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 at 11:59 PM PT

All applicants will be notified of their status by May.

Eligibility

Applicants must identify as Asian American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander (AANHPI).
Applicants must currently be enrolled as a college student.
Applicants who are currently enrolled as a community college student are also eligible.
Applicants must be starting their final year of college/university or community college during the Fall 2025 term.
Applicants must be first-gen, meaning your parents did not complete a college or university degree.
Applicants do not need to be a U.S. citizen. DACA students or undocumented students must have a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to be eligible for this scholarship.
If awarded a scholarship, applicants may be required to submit either a 2024 or 2025 tax return.
Applicants must not have been a previous OCA-UPS® Gold Mountain Scholarship recipient (as a high school senior).
Applicants must not be a child or dependent of:
- an OCA National staff member,
- an OCA Executive Council member,
- or an OCA Business Advisory Council member.

Application Requirements

Short Bio (in PDF format, 300 words max).
- This should include your background, identity, school, major/minor, work/experience, interests, etc. This info will be used on our website if you are selected to be a scholar. If you’d like to see examples of what this short bio should look like, please refer to our previous scholars page.
Academic Transcript (in PDF format; unofficial transcripts are also accepted)
- Your transcript must include the first quarter/semester of your freshman year of college through at least the first quarter/semester of your junior year of college corresponding with your application.
Resume (in PDF format)
- One page front and back, i.e. two single-sided pages.
Experiences (in PDF)
- There will be a section in the application form asking you to provide details on three types of experiences you may have:
  - Leadership experience
  - Community Service/Volunteer experience
  - Employment/Work experience
- For each type of experience, you can list up to three of your most prominent and relevant experiences. It’s okay if you don’t have experiences in all three categories because everyone has different circumstances. For any section you don't have experience in, please upload a short PDF document explaining why you don't have that experience(s).
Two (2) Essay Responses (in PDF format, 500 words max)
- Essay Prompt 1: What are you passionate about and why?
- Essay Prompt 2: Susan Sontag wrote that “[s]ilence remains, inescapably, a form of speech.” Write about an issue or a situation in which you remained silent, and explain how silence may speak in ways that you did or did not intend.
Two(2) Short Answer Response (300 words max)
- Short Answer Prompt 1: What has your experience been like as a first-generation Asian American or Pacific Islander college student?
- Short Answer Prompt 2: What are your plans/goals after you graduate college/university?
Two (2) references
- Include their name, title/position, email, phone number, and their relationship to you.
- References can be anyone who can speak about you and your work on a personal and professional level. We may contact one or both of your references if we determine the need to ask them about you and your application.
- Please note we are not asking for letters of recommendation.

Application Guide

Review the application form
- Make sure to look over the application form before you start applying so that you can prepare all of the application materials and answers to each prompt ahead of time. Take note of the application deadline.
- Make sure you are actually eligible for this scholarship by reviewing the eligibility and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section of the scholarship website.
Personal Information

Make sure the email address you provide on the application form is one you check regularly and have access to through at least the fall of 2024.
Make sure you are able to describe your racial and ethnic identities.
Write your short bio. Look at previous scholarship recipients’ short bios for inspiration.
Find out if your family is affiliated with, or is a member of, an OCA chapter.

Experiences

Be prepared to provide details of your volunteer/community service, leadership, and/or work/employment experiences (including family responsibilities, if applicable). It’s okay if you don’t have all three types of experiences because everyone has different life circumstances.

Essays and Short Answers

You are required to submit essays and short answer responses. This is a chance for us to learn about you and truly get to know you. Make sure you thoroughly answer the prompts.

Financial Information

Be prepared to provide your and/or your family’s total gross income from the most recent tax filing season.

References

You will be asked to provide the names and contact information of two references. These references should not be family members. They should be someone who can speak about you personally and professionally. We are not asking for letters of recommendations.
Be sure to ask your references for permission before including them as a reference on the application form.

Certification

Before submitting your application, be sure to take one last look at your application answers. Check for errors. Make sure everything is accurate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Tap on a question to see the answer. If you have a question not covered in the FAQs, contact Hojin Kim at hojin.kim@ocanational.org.

This includes those who identify as East Asian American, Filipino American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander American, South Asian American, and Southeast Asian American.
Different institutions have different determinations for who is considered a first-gen student. For the OCA-UPS Gold Mountain Scholarship, first-gen means your parents did not complete a college or university degree.
Yes.
Yes. Being a first-gen student means that your parent(s) did not complete a college or university degree. Your sibling(s) would also be considered first-gen.
Yes, community college students are eligible.
Unfortunately, no, starting in 2022 former high school recipients of the OCA-UPS® Gold Mountain Scholarship are not eligible for this award.
Although GPA is a consideration, there is no minimum GPA requirement in order to be eligible to apply.
No.
Successful applicants will have the scholarship deposited directly into their bank account via ACH or PayPal (checks are also available) after completing the form included in the result email.
Scholarship recipients can choose how they use their scholarship funding. However, we suggest it be used towards tuition-specific purposes (i.e. tuition, books, computer, etc).
Check the bottom of this page for additional scholarships from external organizations: https://www.ocanational.org/scholarships

Testimonials

Wasiq Javed

2020 Scholar, University of Houston

"The Gold Mountain Scholarship has allowed me the opportunity to do a full time internship at the Texas State Capitol as a fellow with my university. I have been inspired to be one of the few Muslim students in the building as my presence can change stereotypes and combat discrimination. I seek to mobilize fellow youth from underrepresented groups in the political process to help influence change in society."

Vy Tran

2020 Scholar, Yale University

“Because of the Gold Mountain Scholarship, I've been able to take art classes at Yale that I couldn't afford before. In my painting and photography courses, I've had creative outlets to further explore my own identity and the forms of art that matter to me. Art has always been extremely inaccessible to me as a low-income student, but this scholarship lets me create art freely and hopefully.”