La Castellana Scholarship Program: Its Impact to Beneficiaries’ Employment and Economic Lives

Abstract

This descriptive research investigated the impact of the LGU CARES scholarship program of the Municipality of La Castellana on the lives of graduate scholars. It utilized both quantitative and qualitative techniques using phenomenology approach. An in-depth interview was used to supplement the data gathered from survey questionnaires conducted to 148 respondents who were CARES scholarship grantees from year 2011 to 2014. Findings revealed that most of the LGU scholars belong to big and poor families with income below the poverty line. They have earned a job right after they graduated from College and were employed in government, non-government, and private agencies not only in the locality but also to different places in the country. Majority of the program beneficiaries have high level of satisfaction to the CARES scholarship program in terms of free tuition, timeliness of release of funding support, choice of career given and preferred school of choice. The improvements gained by scholars after employment as beneficiaries of the LGU CARES program were felt in the areas of personal, social, economic and professional benefits. In terms of its impact to the life of the scholars, nine major themes emerged: improvement of economic living condition, life style, self-confidence, better person, competitiveness, camaraderie to everyone, exposure to community, self-improvement, and professional growth. These themes explained the fullness of change that happened to the individual’s life. Improvement of economic living conditions and life-style were found to be the major impact on the economic status of the graduate scholars.