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SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union

SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union is a credit union that is federally chartered and headquartered in Santa Ana, CA that serves the educational community in Southern California. Before April 14, 2008, its original name was Orange County Teachers Federal Credit union, or OCTFCU.

History Of SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union

SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union was founded in 1934 by a group of 125 school employees who pooled together $1,200 and established the Orange County Teachers Credit Union (OCTCU) with a California state charter. A switch to a federal charter some time in 1983 added Federal to its name.

At the end of 2007, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union reported $7.65 billion in total assets, making it the 5th largest credit union in the United States in terms of asset size. Net income for that particular year was $64.24 million, and the total capital was $836 million. Their 11.16 per cent capital to asset ratio is one of the best in the US banking industry. They reported having 376,789 members at the end of 2007.

SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union Field of Membership

SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union’s field of Membership is the following Southern California counties:

  • Imperial County
  • Kern County
  • Los Angeles County
  • Orange County
  • Riverside County
  • San Bernardino County

  • San Diego County
  • San Luis Obispo County
  • Santa Barbara County
  • Ventura County

Within those counties, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union serves employees of the following educational entities (serving both certificated and classified employees):

  • Public elementary and secondary schools that are enlisted as a private school in the CDESD or California Department of Education School Directory
  • Superintendents of county schools
  • Community colleges
  • Authorized colleges and universities for degree programs
  • Authorized education foundations

In addition, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union serves the following:

  • Members of the boards of trustees of eligible schools
  • Educators who have retired from one of the above-mentioned eligible educational entities, who are receiving an annuity or pension from that entity’s retirement program, such as CalPERS or CalSTRS
  • Immediate members of the family of any existing SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union member (spouse, mother, father, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, son, daughter)

Workplace Rating For SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union

In 2004, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union was named the 3rd best medium-sized company for employment in the country by the GPWII or Great Place to Work Institute, Inc., a workplace for research and consulting firm in San Francisco, CA. Every year the Institute works with the Fortune Magazine and other publications all over the world to select “Best Companies to Work For” line up that appear in 25 different countries, which also includes the “100 Best Companies to Work for” in America.

Three years later, in 2007, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union appeared in the same list, placing tenth, thus the signal for a more bountiful and fruitful years of the credit union.