Thousands of dollars in scholarship money available to local students in Gilroy and Morgan Hill went unclaimed last year, and with the deadline to apply for many of these awards just around the corner, high school counselors are sounding the call for seniors to get on the ball.
With the current average tuition cost for a four-year university climbing to an all-time high at about $30,000 for private and $9,000 for public – not to mention additional costs for room and board and textbooks – local, state and national scholarships can help families foot the skyrocketing costs.
Ending the year with leftover scholarships baffles President Donna Pray of the local philanthropic Gilroy Foundation. An estimated $13,500 went unawarded in 2013 “because nobody applied,” she said.
“It wasn’t that people didn’t qualify,” Pray said. They just didn’t apply for them.”
Since 1990, the Gilroy Foundation has distributed $1,226,700 in scholarships to Gilroy seniors, with $384,150 ready to award in 2014.
Between Gilroy and Morgan Hill, there are hundreds of opportunities to nab cash. Two of the biggest pots come from the Mushroom Mardi Gras fund, which is offering a record $50,000 to Morgan Hill high school seniors graduating in 2014; and nearly $400,000 scholarships awaiting Gilroy’s high school seniors, compliments of the Gilroy Foundation and its many donors.
“Some scholarships are related to a major in college. Some are related to ethnicity. Some are for specific colleges and that kind of thing. Some are more open. Some are for students with more financial need,” explained Jan Bergkamp, a scholarship volunteer for the last 11 years at Live Oak High School’s College and Career Center in Morgan Hill.
The deadline to apply for many is as early as March, but others run into April and as late as May, which means “it’s crunch time,” according to Head Academic Counselor Donya Maiorino at Christopher High School in Gilroy, for students to submit their applications.
Bergkamp goes into classrooms to educate students as early as their sophomore year on the importance of building a portfolio that gives them a competitive edge for scholarships.
Some of her advice, aside from the obvious of shooting for high academic success, is volunteering for community service because “scholarships do look for students who have given back in the community” and “it’s important for college applications as well.”
Mushroom Mardi Gras Scholarship Chair Ron Woolf, who has been part of the selection process for 25 years, confirmed that panels scan applications for academics and community service or “something unique they’ve done in the community.”
“We’re looking to see what they have given back to the community and the school,” said Woolf.
At CHS, Maiorino and her fellow counseling staff host several after-school workshops throughout the year to inform students and parents about the college and scholarship application process as well as how to sign up for the free application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.
“With seniors, they tend to get a little bit overwhelmed with thinking about college and their future,” said Maiorino, who also gives a Powerpoint presentation earlier in the year to all seniors about the application processes.
Another thing that helps with the process, Maiorino says, is that English teachers have seniors who are interested in attending a UC school write a personal essay and have it ready to go because most UC college applications and scholarships ask: “Tell us about yourself” and “Why you are deserving of this scholarship?”
At Sobrato High School in Morgan Hill, Academic Counselor Brianna Werkman started a scholarship club where students meet after school and hunt online for scholarships to fill out. Werkman also emails scholarship information to students and their parents as it comes in.
“We do very well with the amount of (scholarship) money we get in,” said Werkman. Last year’s graduating class of 2013 was awarded $785,000 in scholarships ($2.977 million renewable over four years).
At LOHS, 110 graduates in 2013 received more than $1.1 million.
But even with multiple academic coordinators at various high school sites and a common scholarship application filled out by all seniors, scholarships still go unapplied for. And students who’ve reaped the benefits of financial aid can’t emphasize what a missed opportunity that is.
LOHS alumnus Michael Altamirano, now a freshman attending De Anza College in Cupertino, applied for scholarships before graduating in spring 2013. He secured four, totaling more than $5,000.
“I encourage all students to talk to their counselors and find information on scholarships because they help a lot,” shared Altamirano, a 2013 Mushroom Mardi Gras scholarship recipient. “With my scholarship money, I was able to buy my laptop as well as pay for my first year at De Anza College.”
Pray said principals and counselors at Gilroy’s four high schools – Gilroy High, CHS, the Dr. TJ Owens Gilroy Early College Academy (known as GECA), and Mt. Madonna Continuation – are constantly reminded each year of scholarship opportunities they should strive to take advantage of.
“We’re having higher hopes this year,” said Pray, who interviews the scholarship donors to create the application guidelines for their particular scholarship. “We have money to give out.”
On the foundation’s website, www.gilroyfoundation.org, one click of the mouse shows a list of the 2014 scholarships available, how much each one is for and the criteria required by the donor.
Average annual cost of tuition, plus fees, in California for the 2013-14 school year:
–$1,424: Public two-year
–$9,037: Public four-year
–$36,914: Private, nonprofit, four-year
Source: College Board Advocacy & Policy Center
