As students prepare to move to Emerson Los Angeles next semester, some may be worrying about their bank accounts: plane tickets and rental cars can be expensive with only an unpaid internship on the horizon. But for some students, the college may have a solution.

In honor of Emerson alumnus and former ELA Executive Director Kevin Bright, students can now apply for a scholarship designed to support Hollywood transplants, according to an email from Ruthanne Madsen, vice president of enrollment management. Director of Financial Aid Angela Grant said the college will distribute $5,000 per semester among the scholarship winners. This offer is now available to the more than 200 attending the program this spring.  

This scholarship is a response to students seeking financial assistance for the ELA program, Grant said. With this in mind, she said students must demonstrate financial need to apply.

To measure this, Grant said the college will review an application–which requires identification, a precise amount of money requested, and specifics of how the money will be used–a detailed personal expense budget, and federal financial aid status. Grant said students who are concerned about eligibility should email [email protected] with their name, student ID, and the subject “Can I apply for the Kevin Bright Scholarship Fund?”

Applicants will be notified Dec. 1 if–or how much–they will be awarded, according to the email.

Executive Director of ELA Allison Sampson said the Kevin Bright Scholarship Fund may be used for a swath of expenses, including travel to and from LA, a rental car, extracurricular programming, or event attendance.  

At the time of writing, a round-trip plane ticket from Boston to LA for the spring semester is around $300. To buy a used car there, it could cost somewhere between $50 and $100 per month.

“The goal is to make it possible for people to come to ELA that otherwise would have been shut out from the program because of financial access,” Sampson said. “This may help remove that for some prospective students.”

Those applying for the scholarship must email, fax, or hand deliver a typewritten application to the Office of Financial Aid by Nov. 15.