Scholarships

The CFT offers scholarships to high school seniors and college students who are children or dependents of CFT members in good standing. Students enrolled in four-year courses of study are eligible for $3000 scholarships; those enrolled in two-year courses of study are eligible for $1000.

About the program

The CFT Raoul Teilhet Scholarship Program began in 1997 when delegates to the CFT Convention voted to establish scholarships that could help children and dependents of members achieve their higher education goals. The program was named after inspirational CFT leader Raoul Teilhet, pictured above, circa 1972. Teilhet served the organization as president from 1968 to 1985. In 2003, Convention delegates extended eligibility to continuing college students and dependents of deceased CFT members.

Raoul Teilhet died in 2013; you can read about Teilhet’s life and contributions to the union in his obituary. Since the program was established in 1997, the CFT has helped hundreds of students achieve their higher education goals by awarding them Raoul Teilhet Scholarships.

Scholarship eligibility

• Award selection is based on academic achievement, special talents and skills, participation in extracurricular activities, community service, financial need, and a 500-word essay on a social issue of the applicant’s choice.
• Scholarships are awarded for any one year of higher education.
• Students must be listed as a dependent on their parents’ or guardians’ tax return to be eligible for this scholarship.
• Parents or guardians will be asked to have their local union president verify union membership.
• High school students who received scholarships are not eligible for another Teilhet Scholarship as continuing college students. Continuing college students who received Raoul Teilhet Scholarships are not eligible to apply again.

How to complete and submit your application

The scholarship applications below contain complete instructions for submission; please read them carefully. Note: The applications are fillable pdf documents. Please complete the application electronically using the free Adobe Reader. This will ensure that you are able to fill out, make changes, save, and print your completed application. (If your browser is set to view pdfs, you must download the application first and then open it in Adobe Reader.)

For more information, or to get a hard copy of an application mailed to you, please email Leslye Osegueda, or phone our Costa Mesa Field Office at 714-754-6638.

Raoul Teilhet Scholarship applications and deadlines

• For High School Seniors  Deadline to submit applications: January 10, 2019
• For Continuing College Students Deadline to submit applications: July 1, 2019
• Flyer about the Raoul Teilhet Scholarship Program Contains basic info about the CFT scholarship program 

Learn more about scholarships offered by the AFT and the AFL-CIO here.