Lake Oconee Youth Alliance Inc

Helping Deserving Youth Achieve Their Dreams
Lake Oconee Youth Alliance is dedicated to the Empowerment of underserved youth through mentoring programs and Scholarships for post-secondary education. Programs for students from ninth grade through undergraduate studies enhance and support the student throughout the educational journey. High School students prepare for life after high school exploring opportunities at technical college, university or in military service to our nation. They are guided through the college application process with study skills for SAT/ACT, FAFSA application guidance, essay and interview guidance. The Youth Alliance scholars are the Leaders for tomorrow and excell academically at their chosen college/ university. Currently the average GPA of these scholars is 3.5. They are active in leadership and service on the college campuses. LOYA has a 96% college retention rate for these scholarship recipients. (National average is 60%.) Many LOYA scholars are first in family graduating from a 4 year university.

Lake Oconee Youth Alliance identifies the applicants to be considered for scholarship using PELL grant eligibility to determine need and HOPE eligibility to identify academic excellence. HOPE eligibility must be maintained in order to continue scholarship status throughout undergraduate study up to 8 full time semesters. Each of our Scholarship recipients are paired with a mentor to assist and guide them toward success as they navigate the college experience.

The need for scholarship and college assistance in Greene and Putnam Counties is large and growing. Support contributions will enable more deserving students to be helped through our college assistance and scholarship programs.

Currently 52 deserving scholars have received scholarships to Georgia Colleges and Universities. Over 100 students have been provided assistance since 2017. Of this combined scholarship and assistance group 34 have completed their requirements for graduation in their field of study. Over half with honors. Their chosen fields are: engineering, education, anthropology, nursing, computer science, accounting, business, journalism,  fashion design/ marketing, biology and more.