This conviction is particularly true when it comes to a midlife wisdom school like MEA. The U.S.’s huge longevity disparities are well-documented based on race, gender, wealth, and especially access to quality healthcare. Some of MEA’s curriculum premises are based upon Yale University research showing that adopting a positive perspective on aging can add 7.4 years to one’s life. So, you could make an argument that it’s those who are not financially well-off who might gain the most significant benefit from our MEA programs.
Hence, since we opened the MEA Baja campus nearly four years ago, more than half of the students (average age 54 but ranging from 30-88) who’ve come to our workshops have been on some kind of scholarship. With some of this funded by our associated non-profit AGE (Association for Growth and Education), we’ve offered approximately $2 million in scholarships to many hundreds of mid-lifers.
Based upon some limited means-testing in your workshop application, you can apply for a scholarship for almost any MEA Baja workshop (click here and scroll down to the Scholarships section to learn more). Here are some tips to knowing if you’ll likely be accepted:
- We limit our scholarships to those who are in need so the more your circumstances require support, the better your chances.
- The more popular the workshop, the less likely your chances to be awarded a scholarship. Our highly-applied workshops still offer some scholarships, but these weeks often enable us to offer more scholarships throughout our other workshops.
- The 5-day Mastery Week workshops tend to be the most popular, so your chances of being selected are greater with our 7-day workshops. We get in touch with our scholarship recipients at least five weeks before the workshop starts, but can award even earlier if there are extenuating circumstances that require a decision for you even sooner.
Our most generous scholarships are associated with our Activists in Residence (AIR) program that awards a $5000 grant to individuals. This includes an all-inclusive 2-week stay at our Baja campus during Sabbatical Sessions and a stipend for airfare and expenses. All of our 2021 AIR scholarship grants have already been awarded and we will be announcing a call for new entries in 2022.
In sum, don’t let your financial status be an impediment to joining us in Baja for one of our upcoming workshops as our new season of weekly programs starts again on November 28, and the application deadline for the first workshop is coming up soon – October 17.