The Community Service Scholars Program at Trinity College (Vermont) was established in fall 1989 to give single parents on welfare an opportunity to earn a four-year degree while volunteering at least 6 hours per week in community service projects. The participants receive financial support to cover most educational expenses. In the first year, 12 full-time, female students started the program by attending a week-long, August residential orientation program on campus. The students, whose average age was 32, found the orientation helpful in bridging the gap into the world of academia and adjusting to attending college with traditional 18- to 22-year-old college students. The orientation also helped them form the basis for an ongoing support group. Of the 12 students who started in 1989, eight remained in the program and five of these had a grade point average of over 3.0. To date, 18 students have graduated; 12 of these are employed full time; two are attending graduate school; and four recent graduates, are seeking employment. Before the grant terminated, the college assumed all program costs and also successfully increased private contributions. Appendices include a program application form, a letter of recommendation form, and brief profiles of student participants. (SW)