NOTICE: Our Strategic Plan includes a goal to ensure that our scholarships are sustainable. Scholarship funds are more robust when they’re endowed. In an effort to work toward sustainability, we are reviewing our scholarship process in order to provide consistent support for emerging outdoor leaders and educators. We will keep you updated as we make decisions about how to move forward. A hold on the giving of scholarships has been issued until an endowment plan is in place. Consider contributing toward the endowment of these funds by giving today.*

Kitty Drury Memorial Scholarship

Established in 1989, the Drury Scholarship for Instructor Development was made possible by the creation of a permanent fund in memory of WEA founding member Katharine "Kitty" Drury. The Drury Scholarship is a funding source to benefit aspiring outdoor leaders who wish to further their professional development as participants on WEA courses related to becoming a WEA Outdoor Educator. Drury Scholarships for Instructor Development are awarded for course costs or expenses associated with participating in any of the following: Outdoor Educator Certification courses and courses associated with the Certifying Examiner status. A secondary consideration will be allowed for Outdoor Leader Certificate courses or for Wilderness First Responder certification or recertification.

Pete Petersen Memorial Scholarship

Pete Petersen played a significant role in the early formation of the WEA in the late 1970s when he functioned as outfitter to WEA courses that operated out of the Paul Petzoldt Lodge in Driggs, Idaho. Pete's strong will and personality influenced the hundreds of students and instructors who made their way through the lodge during his tenure there, as he regaled them with conversation ranging in topic from world history to beans to cornbread. One of Pete's favorite cynical lines was "nothing in moderation," and he lived to an extent that left him a wise man. Upon Pete's death in February of 1992, the WEA set up the Pete Petersen Memorial Scholarship for Outdoor Leadership Development, which has been used to assist individuals who wish to take training through the WEA to advance themselves as outdoor educators. 

While we are not awarding scholarships until they are endowed, there are other organizations that do offer scholarships. You can learn more by following the links below.

American Mountain Guide Association

Association for Outdoor Recreation and Education