2025 Scholarship Opportunities

If the low end of our sliding scale is still more than you can afford, we welcome you to apply for a scholarship.

Aware of the influence of systemic inequity with regard to resource access, we welcome all scholarship applications and give priority to those who hold one or more marginalized identities. This includes Black, Indigenous and other people of color, immigrants, trans people and more.

We also understand that many Vallecitos retreat attendees have dedicated themselves professionally to fields such as social and climate justice work, public service, social service and/or education, all which are historically underpaying. If you are working in a public service role and need a scholarship, we encourage you to apply.

Scholarships cover either 25% or 50% of the lowest-rate retreat fees. (Hermitage and Tent Camping are not available for scholarships.)

If every single person paid the highest rate on our sliding scale this would still only cover about 85% of Vallecitos’ costs; the rest is covered through fundraising. Therefore, we ask that you please only apply for a scholarship if you truly need one. We do our best to make the process as simple and easy as possible.

We recommend that you apply as early as possible and we will do our best to help. Our funds are finite so we cannot guarantee that every application will result in a scholarship.

*Please note that scholarships do not cover transportation costs, dana, or optional retreat costs such as a Comfort Pack or shuttle reservations. Most of our retreats are dana-based – meaning in the Buddhist tradition teachers receive no financial compensation for their teaching other than what is offered by retreatants – so please plan accordingly to offer dana as you are able at the end of your retreat to support our teachers.

PLEASE READ THE INFORMATION BELOW BEFORE APPLYING FOR A SCHOLARSHIP:

General Information:

Scholarship funds come from donations as well as the Hemera Foundation.

Scholarship Support:

Scholarships cover either 25% or 50% of the lowest rate on our sliding scale of retreat fees. You select the level that best reflects your financial situation. In rare cases where this cost is still prohibitive, we may be able to offer additional scholarship support, please contact us.
Scholarships cover retreat fees (lodging and meals) and do not cover travel, optional items like Comfort Pack and Shuttle Fee, or dana to the teachers.
Financial support is limited to one scholarship per individual per calendar year.
Scholarships are limited for each retreat and priority is given to those who hold one or more marginalized identities and those in public service (see above).

Eligible Retreats:

All teacher-led retreats are eligible.
Self-retreats, the Hermitage and Tent Camping are not eligible.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR APPLYING:

1. Before you fill out this scholarship application, first register for the retreat you would like to attend. During part 6 of the registration process, where it asks you to select your payment, choose “Apply for a scholarship” as your payment option
  1. This is a preliminary registration that will be secured once your scholarship application is processed and you accept an award.
  2. You will NOT need to make payment at the time of registration.
  3. If the retreat has an application process, apply to the retreat first. If you are accepted, then complete your registration and apply for a scholarship.
2. Once you are registered for the retreat, fill out the scholarship application below.
  1. Your scholarship application will not be reviewed until we have received BOTH your preliminary retreat registration and your scholarship application.
  2. Please submit your scholarship application immediately after registering for a retreat; if we do not receive your scholarship app within five business days of registering for a retreat, your retreat spot will be released.
  3. Click here to submit a scholarship application. (Applications will open February 2025)
3. We will contact scholarship applicants within 14 business days. Your retreat registration is not guaranteed until your scholarship application has been reviewed, you receive notice of an award and confirm acceptance.
  1. If your scholarship is approved, your deposit of 50% of the remaining balance is due at that time to confirm your registration.
  2. If your application is not approved, and you owe the full amount, you may still secure your spot by paying a 50% balance of the full price.
  3. All remaining fees are due 30 days before the start date.

Khalil Hassan

...I cannot express in words alone how important the retreat was for me. One of the most valuable lessons I learned is the importance of listening to my inner self. Vallecitos provided the necessary environment that makes it impossible not to go inward. When I returned home, I hit the ground running, but with a more focused direction. I attribute that to my stay at Vallecitos.

Swati Prakash

...The time and the space to reflect and cultivate inner calm were so valuable. This was a very healing experience for me. It also started me on the practice of meditating. I meditate every day now, just for 10 minutes, but it makes a huge difference in my everyday life and with work.

Mushim Ikeda

...I was teaching at Vallecitos one year in August, during the meteor showers. Our sensitivity heightened by hours of silent meditation, we would stand outside at night and watch trails of light cross the vast dark sky, signs from what I call the Greater Reality. Unforgettable.

...17 years ago, I received an invitation to sit for 10 days of silence at Vallecitos. I accepted the invitation with no idea of the lasting impact the retreat would have on me. Over the years, the annual pilgrimage has provided me with tools to sustain and deepen my ongoing mediation practice. Sweeping fields of wildflowers, star-dotted nights, and bubbling streams provide a unique opportunity to directly experience interconnectedness. This gentle, wild setting is a profound environment to recharge mind, spirit, and body.

Jane Cronlund

...Since the retreat, my pace of personal breakthroughs has quickened and old dynamics seem to be changing in positive ways. I am better able to deal with previously tense situations and successfully resolve them. I have increased feelings of peace. Thank you!

Katie Gall

...Vallecitos has truly become a home to me. Working with such great teachers and mentors is an honor and being able to absorb all the knowledge and blessings that flow through the gorgeous land has shaped my soul and nourished my mind. It really is a magical place that I am forever grateful for.

Debra Susan Abbot

...I had a tremendous experience at Vallecitos, which is one of the most rewarding and positive things I’ve done within my lifetime. I have incorporated many of the things I learned into my daily life, and it has been very healthy for me. I had to experience loving kindness, sympathetic joy and generosity to understand the full power and grace of these profound feelings and actions.

Cristina Mormorunni

...I am so much more aware of the path I want to be on and the power of the sacred in my life.

Krys Kornmeier

...The view of the Aspen trees outside my casita, the cool silent mornings of meditation, the warmth of the lodge, and the exquisite majesty of the land created a gentle but powerful impression... in one short visit I have come to treasure Vallecitos.

...I came to Vallecitos for a retreat years ago and fell in love with it. Now as a volunteer and yogi I try to come back every summer to soak up the stunning landscapes as well as the rich dharma. This place truly calls me home.

Mark Coleman

...Vallecitos has always been one of my spiritual homes. It is a place where I have learned so much about the refuge of wilderness. It is where I have discovered so much about my own nature, from the wildness of nature there. Not only is it exquisitely beautiful and pristine, it is also profoundly serene and a place of deep renewal. I feel so blessed to have been able to visit every year for the past twenty years. I am eternally grateful for that land.

Scholarships

2025 Scholarship Opportunities

PLEASE READ THE INFORMATION BELOW BEFORE APPLYING FOR A SCHOLARSHIP:

INSTRUCTIONS FOR APPLYING:

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