At the January 2023 ARCS National Board meeting, under the direction of Caron Ogg, ARCS National President, the Board approved a Task Force to review and provide guidance to ARCS chapters in reference to funding only U.S. citizens. Caron appointed Joan Foley (Oregon Chapter member) and Chris Simpson Brent (Northern CA Chapter member) to co-chair the Task Force since they were the Co-Chairs of the National University Relations Committee. The Task Force researched the issue to build consensus among the 15 chapters.

On October 14, 2023, ARCS National Board approved the recommendation from the Legal Permanent Resident Task Force of a process that allows chapters, to expand their scholar eligibility to include Lawful Permanent Residents for consideration for ARCS Awards without changing the mission statement of ARCS Foundation. 

Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) is a status given to U.S. immigrants/non-citizens who can legally live in the United States forever. LPRs are normally on the path to becoming a U.S. Citizen. They enjoy similar rights as citizens including working without special restrictions, own property, receive financial assistance, join the armed forces, and LPRs have to file income taxes similarly to citizens.

As of December 14, 2023, OHSU and OSU have been approved by ARCS National to include Lawful Permanent Residents along with U.S. Citizens in the pool of candidates to be considerd for ARCS Scholar Awards.

For more information contact Caron Ogg or Joan Foley.