Scholarships

Continuing Education Scholarships

For Students & Professionals

The OPRA Foundation annually awards continuing education scholarships to students and professionals who exemplify the future of our profession and wish to further their education in the field of parks, recreation, and leisure studies. The scholarship may be broken into two categories: conference fees and lodging. The primary use of this scholarship is for attendance to the OPRA Conference & Trade Show. Other conferences will be evaluated for relevance to the profession and must have elements including at least one of the following; parks/law enforcement, park operations, natural resource management, therapeutic recreation, commercial recreation, outdoor recreation, tourism, community recreation, recreation management, aquatic management, non-profit recreation management, recreational sports management and leisure studies.

Application Deadline:  November 1, 2024

Continuing Education Scholarship Application


Small Agency Forum Scholarships

OPRA Foundation has allocated money to award scholarships to the 2025 OPRA Small Agency Forum being held on February 2, 2025 at the Kalahari Convention Center.

Application Deadline:  November 1, 2024

Small Agency Forum Scholarship Application


Academic Scholarships

Ohio Parks and Recreation Association Foundation annually awards scholarships to students majoring in recreation, parks and leisure studies throughout Ohio.

The scholarships are broken into three categories:

  • The Don Schmidt Scholarship for students majoring in parks/law enforcement;
  • The Jody Stowers Scholarship for students in parks and recreation that exemplify the future of our profession.
  • The John McComb Scholarship for students majoring in all aspects of recreation (park operations, natural resource management, therapeutic recreation, commercial recreation, outdoor recreation, tourism, community recreation, recreation management, aquatic management, non-profit recreation management, sports management and leisure studies).

The Application Deadline has passed.  The 2025 application will be available in late winter.