Since 2006, 130 multi-year scholarships in the name of the orangutan have been awarded to Indonesian students in the fields of biology, forestry and veterinary science. Seventy students have graduated and have become advocates of orangutan conservation within Indonesia's diverse workforce. The latest scholarship ceremonies were held in Ketapang, West Kalimantan on May 23 and in Banda Aceh, Aceh province on May 30, 2017.

3 June 2017 - Santa Monica, CA.  “The college graduates we support through this competitive scholarship program become orangutan advocates in the name of the great red ape,” stated Dr. Gary Shapiro, about the Orangutan Caring Scholarship (OCS) program.  Founded in 2006, the OCS program was established as a collaboration between the Orang Utan Republik Foundation (OURF) and two Indonesian implementing organizations: first, Yayasan Orangutan Sumatra Lestari/Orangutan Information Center (OIC) on Sumatra and in 2012 Yayasan Palung (YP) in West Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo). “It is specifically for students from provinces where wild orangutans still roam the forests,” said Shapiro. Various orangutan and other nonprofit organizations, foundations and individuals, have been providing the funding to grow this program over the past 12 years.

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