What We Offer
Scholarships from FGSF are primarily intended to:
Eliminate student loans and assist students in securing paid summer internships. The goal is to enhance the student’s ability to obtain a four-year college degree without the financial hardship provided by student loans. These loans are preventing students from opportunities such as business ownership, homeownership, and taking care of their families.
Additional features of the scholarship program include:
academic and career counseling from a qualified mentor
support for up to 2.5 years until completion of the bachelor’s degree
placement in a summer internship
Who Can Apply
Students who meet all of the following criteria can apply:
students whose parent(s) have not graduated from a 4-year university regardless of other family members’ level of education.
students who are transferring from a two-year community college to a four-year university entering as a college junior.
students pursuing a bachelor's degree in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) discipline.
THE SCHOLARSHIP
Significance
Targets First Generation Students
Targets Transfer Students
Aims to Reduce Student Debt
Aims to Reduce Time to Graduation
First in family to go to college
WHY FIRST GENERATION STUDENTS
About 40% of University of California students and
33% percent of Cal State University students
are First Generation Students.
FirstGen students are more likely to be among those who experience economic hardship during their college careers, resulting in
Working while in college, which lengthens time to graduation, and taking out loans, which must be repaid.
FirstGen students lack the advantage of having family members who can advise and support based on their own college experiences.
TRANSFER STUDENTS HAVE ALREADY PROVEN THEMSELVES
WHY COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRANSFER STUDENTS
Transfer students have demonstrated their commitment to a college education.
Transfer students have demonstrated that they can make successful academic progress at the college level.
Transfer students selected for an FGSF scholarship must have already completed the first two years of coursework in their major, demonstrating interest and competence in a specific area and thought to career planning.
WHY THE CONCERN ABOUT STUDENT LOAN DEBT
Paying off student loan debts reduces full entry into the economy
The average college degree offers a 14.0% return on investment, but: 24.7% of millennial renters indicate they will never be able to afford to buy a home.
In 2019, 14.9% said they would never be able to buy a home.
22% of individuals with student loan debt believe that their debt has influenced their ability to start a small business.
Student Debt Crisis
From 2019 to 2020, the average student loan debt grew by 3.4%; meanwhile, the national economy shrank by 3.5%.
In the last decade, student loan debt increased by an average of $68.6 billion every year.
Adjusted for inflation, 8.0% was the average annual growth rate for the national federal student loan debt from 2007 to 2021.
Student debt is the 2nd largest type of household debt after mortgages.
WHY MINIMIZE TIME TO GRADUATION
Allows earlier establishment of financial stability and resulting in contribution to the economy.
Increases the chances of actually completing college.
Frees up space for new students to enter college.
