Citrus prepares to award 115 Foundation scholarships to eligible students as the spring semester comes to an end.
The Citrus College Foundation is a nonprofit corporation that is governed by a volunteer board of directors. The foundation acts as a channel for donors to give to specific campus organizations and raise funds for Citrus College scholarships. This semester it has offered a total of 115 scholarships.
Director of Financial Aid Stephen Fahey said in an email interview that the Financial Aid Department assists the Citrus College Foundation with reviewing scholarship applications and determining if students are eligible.
The Foundation’s online application opened April 5 and closed May 3.
Financial Aid Technician Cindy Villegas said in an email interview that students will be notified by the Foundation if they are receiving a scholarship.
“Based on our timeline, we will provide the recipient list to the foundation’s office this summer,” Villegas said. “Regret emails will be sent by the financial aid office approximately by August 15, 2021. The awards start from $250-$2,500, depending on the scholarship.”
The Foundation’s scholarship applications are reviewed and scored by volunteers.
Villegas said their volunteer readers play a significant role in the process. They score application essays based on how students answered the prompt, spelling, grammar, punctuation and word count. This year there are 45 volunteers consisting of administrators, staff and faculty.
Foundation Director Christina Garcia said in an email interview that the Citrus College Foundation has a generous base of donors who have strongly supported students’ scholarships, especially during the pandemic.
“Many scholarships awarded are a category called ‘endowed’ which means donors give a sizable gift that stays in the foundation savings account,” Garcia said. “We make scholarship awards annually from the investment earnings, but we also have some awards that are funded annually.”
Garcia said the Foundation holdings are over $12 million and have been growing since the foundation was established in 1966. All of the funds raised are awarded in support of student success, faculty enrichment and enhancing the overall academic environment of Citrus College for students, faculty and staff.
Furthermore, Villegas said that all incoming freshman, current students, re-entry and transfer students should apply and that applications open every spring.
“There is only one application and one essay submitted,” Villegas said. “The software will match students to scholarships based on the students’ answers from the application and the data transferred from the schools’ database. There are many opportunities to receive a scholarship. Although some scholarships have major & GPA restrictions, others don’t.”
