​San Diego Foundation Announces $3.5M in Scholarships Are Available

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Foundation opened applications Wednesday, Jan. 18 for its Common Scholarship, with $3.5 million available for local students.

Through one online application, students can access nearly 150 scholarships, including for four-year universities, two-year colleges, graduate and vocational schools. Scholarships are available for graduating high school seniors, undergraduates, graduate, medical and professional school students and adult re-entry students, according to the foundation.

Students can apply through March 8.

"When we support historically under-resourced college students, we're fostering equity of opportunity in San Diego and supporting the local talent pipeline that builds our region's workforce," said Danielle Valenciano, director of the foundation's Community Scholarship Program. "Research shows that scholarships reduce students' work and debt burden, making them more likely to graduate from college and to do so on time."

The scholarships are funded by the SDF Community Scholarship Program and Community Scholars Initiative. According to a statement from the foundation, the Community Scholars Initiative works with college access organizations to "help hundreds more low-income and first-generation students prepare for, pay for and persist through college."

In 2022, the foundation awarded more than $3.5 million in college scholarships to 989 local students for the 2022-23 academic year.

Among those recipients, 69% are first-generation college students, or the first in their immediate families to pursue a higher education, and 93% of students are considered low-income, officials said.

The San Diego Foundation's Community Scholarship Program is supported by 146 charitable funds. Since 1997, the program has awarded more than $46million to more than 12,000 college students from San Diego.

City News Service