Nearly 100 Sacramento-area high school students are getting some help paying for higher education after receiving grant-funded scholarships through programs designed to help young people in financial need prepare for and enter college. The students received scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 during a ceremony held on May 22 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 50 new scholarships, of $1,500-$3,000, to local high school students. These students were selected from almost 800 students who received intensive advising services beginning in their junior year.
An additional 52 students received $1,000-$2,000 Cash for College Scholarships in honor of their participation in a "Cash for College" workshop this year. In total, Sacramento Cal-SOAP plans to award more than $180,000 in renewal scholarships to continuing college students plus more than $200,000 in new scholarships.
The Sacramento Cal-SOAP directly serves students in 30 middle schools and high schools throughout Sacramento, Colusa, Sutter, and Yuba counties. The project provides tutoring services to students and delivers a college and financial aid advising program to approximately 7,200 students in 13 high schools.
The scholarship awards are made possible, in part, by a generous grant from the College Access Foundation of California. The foundation, the largest grant-making organization of its kind in the state, helps California students who have financial need attend college. It provides millions of dollars in grants to community-based organizations that are helping students prepare for and enter institutions of higher learning.