CSF

Founded in 1921, the California Scholarship Federation is the oldest scholastic, scholarship institution in the state of California. CSF emphasizes high standards of scholarship, and community service for California high school students. CSF encourages service to the school and the community while fostering pride in academic achievement.

CSF Membership is based on scholarship and is gained after qualifying grades are earned each semester. In order to become a member, the student must submit an application each semester the student is eligible. A point system specified in the CSF State By-Laws establishes the membership requirements. To secure eligibility for CSF membership, a student must earn sufficient points from pre-approved course lists. The majority of the required membership points must come from University of California accepted course work.

Life Membership (Sealbearer) is achieved by qualifying four or more semesters in the last three years of high school, and earns the CSF Gold Seal on diplomas and transcripts. One of the semesters must be from grades earned during the senior year.

What happens if a student misses the application deadline?

Membership is neither automatic nor compulsory. The By-Laws (Article IV, Section 2) and every chapter's mandatory Standing Rules (Article III, Section 3) require that the eligible student actually apply for membership, and retroactive membership (after the deadline) is prohibited. However, certain extreme circumstances may justify an exception to this rule; these may include: A lengthy absence from school during the application period; an incomplete grade completed (or a previously recorded grade changed) after the deadline, which qualifies a previously ineligible student. Excuses such as forgetting or not bothering to apply, inability to find one's report card in a timely fashion, failing to heed school announcements about the application period, absence on the last day of the application period, and other mundane excuses are not acceptable.