Dozens of Sacramento Area High School Students Receive College Scholarships

Posted May 18, 2012
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Sacramento Scholars Awards Help Students with Financial Needs

College will be a little more affordable for 50 Sacramento area high school students after they were awarded grant-funded scholarships through programs designed to help young people with financial need prepare for and enter college. The students received scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $3,500 during a special ceremony held May 17 at the California Secretary of State Auditorium.

The Sacramento Cal-SOAP Consortium (California Student Opportunity and Access Program) hosted the Sacramento Scholars Award Ceremony. Cal-SOAP awarded approximately 30 new scholarships, of at least $1,500, to local high school students. These students were selected from almost 600 students who received intensive advising services beginning in their junior year.  

An additional 20 students received $1,000 Cash for College Scholarships in honor of their participation in a "Cash for College" workshop this year. In total, Sacramento Cal-SOAP plan to award more than $100,000 in new scholarships and more than $155,000 in renewal scholarships to continuing college students.

Taking part in the ceremony were Sacramento area Assemblymember Roger Dickinson; Gabriel Medina, Field Representative for Assemblymember Dickinson; and Cat Nou, District Director for Assemblymember Mariko Yamada.

The Sacramento Cal-SOAP directly serves students in 50 middle and high schools throughout Sacramento County. The project provides tutoring services to students and delivers a college and financial aid advising program to approximately 5,300 students in nine high schools.

The scholarship awards are made possible, in part, by a generous grant from the College Access Foundation of California. The College Access Foundation of California, the largest grantmaking organization of its kind in the state, helps California students who have financial need attend college. The Foundation provides millions of dollars in grants to community-based organizations that are helping students prepare for and enter institutions of higher learning.