By Acacia Rodriguez

Good news for DC 37 members or their dependents who are pursuing higher education: the DC 37 Education Committee has a new name and refocused purpose of awarding scholarships to active members, their children, and grandchildren. The newly renamed DC 37 Scholarship Committee has also created a new, simplified application process for those interested in one of six scholarships available through the union.

DC 37 members or their eligible high school senior children or grandchildren can qualify for $1,000 or $2,000 scholarships and use the funds to offset out-of-pocket college, technical, or trade school costs. The scholarships are competitive, meaning that only one winner for each scholarship will be chosen annually.

“My goal as the chair of the committee is to expand and raise more funds so we can give more scholarships to our union family,” said Scholarship Committee Chair Olivia Duong, President of Local 3778 New York City Police Department (NYPD) Technical Professional Employees.

Scholarship winners are selected based on their application materials. This year, the applications require two essays and will take into consideration academic achievement and future goals. The essays are more heavily weighted than the application itself.

“We revised the rubric this year because someone who’s working as an active member is going to have a very different application from a high school student or someone who’s in college applying for the scholarship,” Duong said. “We want to make sure the application process will give us a clearer picture of what each applicant is doing and what they want to achieve.”

The application deadlines for this year’s scholarships are May 29, 2026. Applicants are encouraged to prepare their essays and gather documentation materials to apply early. All materials must be submitted together with the application.

This article originally appeared in the January-March 2026 issue of PEPTalk Magazine.