Sara Wilensky
The San Diego Foundation
(619) 235-2300 ext. 338
sara@sdfoundation.org

December 27, 2006 – With the skyrocketing costs of higher education, many local students struggle to make their college dreams a reality. The San Diego Foundation, which administers the largest non-university based scholarship program in San Diego County, is pleased to announce the release of its 2007-2008 scholarship applications and guidelines.

The Foundation’s website, www.sdfoundation.org, lists all scholarships offered by The Foundation and its donors. Students can apply online, or download the Common Scholarship Application, a unique application which allows them to apply for over 60 different scholarships using one application and submitting one set of materials.

The Foundation’s website also provides students with access to hundreds of local, regional and national scholarship and financial aid websites. Some of the tools the website offers are: a Scholarship Seekers’ Tool Kit, providing information about how to prepare for an interview; the importance of test scores; the taxability of scholarships; and the best time to apply for financial aid.

Last year The Foundation helped 550 students and granted out $2.3 million. Valerie Attisha, Director of Scholarships at The Foundation believes, “Scholarships have a multiplier effect that is far reaching. By providing scholarships to students, we not only touch the lives of students but the lives of their parents, siblings, spouses, children, and the community in which they live. The impact of receiving a scholarship lasts generations.”

Ryan Jones is one individual who has been touched by a scholarship. He was a recipient of the Hans and Margaret Doe Scholarship, benefiting children of Vista Irrigation District employees. Ryan persisted for several years and was finally able to get the funding he needed. “The Doe Scholarship opened a vast world of possibility to me,” said Ryan. “In my time at Washington University, I successfully completed two majors and a minor. I learned how to weld. I tutored troubled kids in a juvenile detention center. I traveled, wrote poems, learned physics, and philosophy.”

Support from the Doe Scholarship did not end upon graduation from college. Ryan’s scholarship continued as he earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from the San Francisco Art Institute. “What I have learned in and out of the classroom will serve me well for the rest of my life. And if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

This year, The Foundation will grant out approximately $3 million to San Diegans. While most of the scholarships are for graduating high school seniors, others are for students already enrolled in college, graduate school, or a trade & vocational school, and some are for adults who are going back to school.

The deadline for applications this year is January 26, 2007, at 5 p.m. To learn more about The Foundation’s Community Scholarship Program or to establish a scholarship fund, please contact Valerie A. Attisha at (619) 235-2300 or email scholarships@sdfoundation.org, or visit www.sdfoundation.org.

About The San Diego Foundation
Founded in 1975, The San Diego Foundation is a broad-purpose community foundation helping individuals, families and organizations carry out their charitable plans, with the common goals of improving the quality of life in the greater San Diego region, now and for generations to come.