Scholarships and Grants

Helping Deserving Students

Community colleges have long provided a gateway to higher education, but that gateway has become more difficult to access. Costs to attend community college have doubled since 2006, and as with other community colleges throughout California, the students who attend the Peralta Colleges tend to be low-income, with at least 50 percent qualifying for financial assistance. Gifts from alumni, employees, committed citizens, corporations and foundations help many students lacking financial resources achieve their educational and career goals.

Last year, the Peralta Colleges Foundation awarded 40 scholarships worth $93,000 to 118 students from Laney College, Merritt College, College of Alameda and Berkeley City College. The foundation also gave $12,000 in grants for classroom enrichment programs generated by faculty members at all four colleges, including an $8,000 library grant to ensure student access to text books through the reserve books program.

In total, the Peralta Colleges Foundation awarded $105,000 to ensure the viability and diversity of our campus community, and guarantee access to quality instruction and higher education.

Among the student scholarship recipients were the finalists for this year’s Chancellor’s Trophy, awarded to outstanding second-year students whose scholastic achievement, sense of civic responsibility and leadership promise a future of success and service to the community.

• Ronald Moss, a grandfather and mentor studying substance abuse counseling and behavioral science at Merritt College

• Phat “Frank” Nguyen, president of the Gay Straight Alliance taking classes in mathematics and civil engineering at College of Alameda

• Staff Sergeant Cris Gomez, an Air Force veteran focused on sociology and education at Berkeley City College

• Jessica Alvarez, the newly-elected Associated Students of Laney College president pursuing a degree in education with an emphasis on  issues facing women minorities

Together, these students received more than $5000 to pursue their educational goals.

This year, the foundation hopes to positively affect tomorrow’s leaders by continuing to provide opportunities for hard-working students. However, with roughly half of the District’s students qualifying for financial assistance, there is room to grow our scholarship fund.

A student who enrolls in a community college in fall 2012 will pay an estimated $1,500 per semester for fees, books and supplies. Here are examples of committed individuals who established scholarship funds.

Richard Lewis McHugh Memorial Scholarship Award

Richard Lewis McHugh Memorial Scholarship Award honors the memory of a Vietnam veteran who attended College of Alameda. While in the Navy, Rick served on the USS Hornet, now a museum in Alameda, and performed avionics maintenance on helicopters and airplanes. After leaving the navy, Rick returned to his hometown in the San Francisco Bay Area. After a devastating house fire nearly killed him, Rick spent the rest of his life recovering from the effects of that disaster. Before becoming too ill to attend classes, Rick gained hope and encouragement through courses in creative writing and art  at the College of Alameda, for which his family remains grateful.

Carter Gilmore Scholarship Fund

The Carter Gilmore Scholarship Fund honors the legacy of Carter Gilmore, a prominent and longtime community activist and businessman who died of cancer in 2006. Mr. Carter moved to Oakland in 1951 and worked for Granny Goose Foods for decades, retiring as a plant manager. He served as president of the NAACP’s Alameda branch and later its Northern California division. The first African American elected to the Oakland City Council, Mr. Carter served from 1977 to 1990, and played a key role in creating the city’s anti-blight ordinance, organizing the citizen police review board and encouraging businesses to open branches in Oakland.

To find out more about any of our 40 scholarships or our Chancellor’s Trophy finalists like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @PeraltaFdn, or reach us via phone, 510.466.7206.

Special Opportunities

From time to time we learn about internships or outside scholarship opportunities that we will share with you below. 

None at this time.