Scholarship Stories
Comparing Financial Aid Award Letters
You’ve applied to college, submitted your FAFSA and Cal grant Applications, received your Student Aid Report, been accepted to one or more colleges, and now have financial aid award letters to compare. Understanding your financial aid award letters is critical to comparing the costs of attending different colleges. Understanding your financial aid award letters is critical to comparing the costs...
Read moreScholarships and College Affordability
College affordability and student loan debt are serious issues for prospective college students. Especially among low-income and first-generation college students, the high costs of tuition, book, housing and transportation along with an aversion to debt create barriers to attaining a college degree. Many students don’t even consider college, attend only part-time (drastically decreasing their likelihood of completion), or drop out...
Read moreA Record Year for Scholarships
2015 was another big year for scholarships at the Community Foundation for Monterey County (CFMC). In 2015 the CFMC awarded 85 scholarships totaling $285,000. Scholarship winners came from throughout Monterey County, representing every public high school. Recipients are attending schools such as UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, Fresno State, UC Davis, and UCLA as well as CSU Monterey Bay and Monterey...
Read moreApplying for College Just Got A Little Easier
Identifying colleges to apply to and filling out applications for financial aid are challenges that overwhelm many students, especially first-generation students whose parents do not have experience navigating the system. The US Department of Education recently launched the College Scorecard, a tool designed to help students and families to research college and universities and to make more informed decisions. The tool...
Read moreScholarships Support Nursing Students
The James Bliss & Annette Sward Forestry & Nursing Scholarship awards scholarships to students from Monterey, San Benito or Santa Cruz counties who are pursuing post-secondary programs in nursing, fire science, forest conservation/management or paramedic/EMT. Since its creation in 2006, the fund has awarded over $170,000 in scholarships to 160 students. Each year, eleven students from the Maurine Church Coburn School...
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