The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) has announced a new, full-tuition scholarship for incoming undergraduate first-year students hailing from the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The merit-based scholarship will be available starting with the class of 2017-2018 and can be extended to cover all five years of tuition at SCI-Arc so long as the student is able to remain within the top 10-percent of their class.

In a press release publicizing the new award, SCI-Arc Director Hernan Diaz Alonso affirmed the institution’s relationship to Los Angeles, stating, “SCI-Arc is embedded in the fabric of Los Angeles. With this scholarship we are reaffirming our relationship to the city’s public education system.” Alonso added, “We are proud of our well-rounded and rigorous Undergraduate program. A Bachelor of Architecture from SCI-Arc provides a creative way to see the world not only in architectural terms, but in sociological, political, and economic terms as well.”

The award represents the second new full-tuition scholarship offered by SCI-Arc in the last few weeks. The institution announced a new set of scholarships for its technology- and urbanism- focused SCI-Arc EDGE programs earlier this month. Those awards were announced in order to, as Chair of Postgraduate Programs at SCI-Arc David Ruy explained in a statement for that scholarship, showcase SCI-Arc’s “commitment to forward-thinking scholarship and research during what has now become clear as an uncertain moment in history.”

The awards also come as institutions and local governments, responding to the uncertainty generated by Donald J. Trump’s unexpected election win, move to fortify and expand existing programs meant to help disadvantaged and minority students.

Applications for the 2017-2018 school year are due by January 15, 2017. For more information, please visit SCI-Arc’s official website.