You can make a difference!

A word from Co-Chairs Jonathan A. Karp and Ali Gagerman

In 2025, the Scholarship Program reached inspiring new milestones, awarding more scholarship dollars than ever before in our program’s 53-year history. Our recipients’ lives are being shaped by rapid technological change, shifting economic realities, and a reimagining of what it means to learn and thrive in a complex world. Together, we are helping ensure Jewish students are not only keeping pace with change but boldly leading the way into the future.

The undergraduate and graduate programs our community helps make possible remain a foundation of Jewish intellectual life and economic opportunity. Today’s students are seeking not just a degree, but a meaningful path forward. They crave relevance, flexibility, and connection. They are eager to build careers with purpose, guided by curiosity, adaptability, and a strong moral and ethical compass.

Yet for many, the barriers to access and affordability continue to grow. Rising tuition costs, student debt burdens, and uneven funding models strain trust in the system. That’s why your generous support of, and contributions to, our needs-based program is so vital right now. It truly takes a community to make higher education attainable, and your financial support is a crucial part of the solution for so many families.

As we reflect in this moment, we are grounded in a shared belief that every student deserves the chance to open doors that might otherwise remain closed. Together, we are reducing financial stress, allowing students to focus on learning instead of loans. We are investing in human potential, nurturing future leaders, innovators, and caretakers of Jewish community and beyond.

At a time when higher education demands so much, its promise must remain steadfast; to not only prepare students for the workforce, but to cultivate imagination, empathy, and a responsibility to build a more just, informed, and connected world.

Thank you for helping that promise endure as we build on that mission in 2026.

L’Shalom,

Jonathan A. Karp and Ali Gagerman, Scholarship Committee Co-Chairs

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Mission of the Scholarship Committee

The JVS Scholarship Committee serves to ensure the continuation and financial stability of the JVS Scholarship Program. Through its dedicated volunteers, along with JVS staff, the Committee is involved in every aspect of the program. This includes interviewing and selecting potential recipients, program oversight, fundraising campaigns, administering the scholarships, alumni outreach and development, and recruiting new members and donors.

The JVS Scholarship Committee is a unique policy and services committee. Our dedicated committee members are actively engaged in:

• Setting program policy and structure
• Hands-on participation interviewing prospective and renewal students
• Award determination
• Support Development/Fundraising efforts, campaigns and events
• Alumni Development
• Pledge a minimum $1,000 “give or get” annual contribution
• Attend four committee meetings a year

Scholarship Committee

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Support the dreams of Jewish scholars

In today’s economy, a higher education is no longer a luxury but a necessity. A college education remains the best investment a student can make in his or her future – recent studies have shown that people with a college degree earn 98% more than people without a degree.

Circle of Honor Endowment Fund

The funds invested by Circle of Honor donors play an essential role in supporting the JVS Scholarship Program now and in the years to come. The Circle of Honor Endowment Fund is long-term investment mechanism enabling JVS to use a percentage of the total earned interest to create scholarship awards now, while reinvesting the remainder of the funds to create awards into the future.

Individuals and corporations who join the Circle of Honor, starting at the $25,000 level or above, create a permanent scholarship fund that may be named in the donor’s honor or in honor or memory of a loved one. Circle of Honor pledges may be paid over time.

Circle of Honor donors are prominently acknowledged on the JVS Wall of Honor in four categories:

Silver Circle (gifts of $25,000)
Gold Circle ($50,000)
Platinum Circle ($75,000)
Diamond Circle ($100,000 or more)

Donors are also invited to attend our annual Scholarship Awards Reception, where they have the opportunity to meet the recipient(s) of their scholarship awards.

Students face serious financial challenges in pursuing higher education:

• Over the last decade, college-loan balances in the United States have jumped more than $833 billion to reach an all-time high of $1.4 trillion, according to a recent report by Experian.
• The average outstanding balance is now $34,144, up 62 percent over the last 10 years. In addition, the percentage of borrowers who owe $50,000 or more has tripled over the same time period, according to a separate report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
• A college education is now the second-largest expense an individual is likely to make in a lifetime-right after purchasing a home.
• For recent graduates, their student loan debt also has long-term consequences and may very well shape the rest of their lives. From buying a car or a home to getting married and even having children, many millennials are putting off life’s major milestones because of their record debt.

More Information

Julia Furer
Scholarship Program Director
julia.furer@jvs-socal.org

Joyce Cele
Scholarship Program Coordinator
jcele@jvs-socal.org

Mailing Address:

JVS  Scholarship Program
6505 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 200
Los Angeles, CA 90048

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