Program Information

Services

A few of the resources BGS offers includes:

• Scholarships and other financial assistance (if you maintain a good GPA)
• Newsletters with a variety of resources and services
• Employment and internship opportunities
• Workshops, outings and other community building events (visit our events page)

In order to access these resources you must be considered an active member and satisfy our eligibility requirements. For specific information regarding prospective students, continuing or graduate students please see the appropriate tab under “For Students.”

Eligibility

Eligibility for the Bruin Underground Scholars Program is dependent upon adhering to BUS requirements. Members should satisfy the following requirements to qualify. Members must identify as a current undergraduate or graduate student who has been accepted and admitted to the University with any of the following lived experiences within the United States of America.

• Formerly Incarcerated
• System Impacted

Recruitment

We provide support to incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, and system impacted students by conducting outreach events, supporting them through community college, preparing them for the UC, sharing educational resources on how to apply to UCLA, coaching them through the UC application process, offering campus tours, and workshops to navigate the education system.

• Ambassador Program: Employment, training, and leadership development for formerly incarcerated community college students.
• Campus Tours & Outreach: Tours and workshops for carceral-system-impacted community college and high school students.
• Incarcerated Scholars Program: Correspondence academic advising for incarcerated community college students.

Retention

Our retention program provides formerly incarcerated and system-impacted students with a space on campus to meet and study, academic tutoring and advising, peer coaching, leadership development, student employment, community events, and workshops on how to navigate UCLA.

• Underground Scholars Initiative: We support USI, a student org that supports formerly incarcerated students by building community, hosting events, and engaging on campus.
• Research: We provide support and guidance for our members to pursue top research opportunities.
• Leadership Development: We provide training and opportunities for students to engage as leaders in BUS, USI, and the broader community. We do this through political education, creating opportunities for students to teach & present their research, creating supported leadership roles for students, and connecting students to other leaders and mentors at UCLA and beyond.
• Jobs/Scholarships/Stipends: We employ students to support our programs. We offer basic needs and transition stipends to current students. We also support scholarship applications.
• Space & Other Resources: We have dedicated space in Student Activities Center B44 where students can meet, study, get support, coffee/tea, and free printing.
• Department of Rehabilitation: We guide students through the application process to receive off-campus financial support.
• Orientation: We host a yearly orientation for incoming Underground Scholars.
• Graduation: We hold a yearly graduation celebration and support students with the purchase of a cap and gown.
• BUS Emergency Scholarship: If you are facing financial hardship and would like to request an emergency grant from the UCLA Bruin Underground Scholars Program, see the BUS Emergency Scholarship form for more information.

Advocacy

We advocate for currently and formerly incarcerated students and their families. In addition to individual advocacy for students on campus and on parole/probation, we engage in local, state, and national policy advocacy to remove barriers and create opportunity for currently and formerly incarcerated people. We also train formerly incarcerated and system-impacted students to be policy advocates.

• Access to Higher Education: Were working to build a prison to university pipeline by increasing the number of formerly incarcerated people in higher education. We do this in our own program and also by supporting students advocating for policies that increase access to higher education for all currently and formerly incarcerated people.
• Individual Advocacy: We provide individual advocacy to students facing discrimination or barriers to education, employment, housing, and benefits due to their arrest and/or criminal conviction history.
• Legislative Advocacy: In partnership with the Berkely Underground Scholars Policy Institute, we train and supports students in leading state legislative advocacy efforts to pass bills in support of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students.
• Language: We advocate for the use of humanizing language when referring to people with convictions. Our common vernacular – in conversation, in the law, in media, and in academia – is filled with dehumanizing language. We denounce labels like “felon”, “ex-offender”, “inmate”, and “criminal” and insist on being called what we are – people.
• Letters of Support: We offer letters of support for parole hearings for the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students we work with.

Wellness

• Wellness Retreat: We host a yearly wellness retreat to allow student to decompress and build community.
• We hold wellness events on and off campus such as, community circles, art therapy, and socials.