Looking for a mentor to guide you towards your future? The Scholarship Foundation is offering a new series to help students find their perfect mentor and achieve their educational goals.
Finding Your Future
Students ages 15+ and their parents are invited to learn how the Scholarship Foundation helps teach the basics of paying for higher education and find the people, organizations, and sources of information they need to prepare for the financial challenges of college. We will also have light refreshments and attendance prizes.
Mission and Vision
The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis, a nonprofit organization founded in 1920, is based upon the conviction that an educated society is essential to a healthy democracy. The Scholarship Foundation provides access to postsecondary education to members of our community who otherwise would not have the financial means to fulfill their educational goals.
The Foundation sees higher education as a catalyst, an agent of change for individuals, families, communities, and nations. We envision a community that recognizes the importance of educational attainment and assures positive educational outcomes are accessible to all regardless of economic circumstance. In our community, doors will not be closed to those who lack financial resources, and postsecondary education will be available to all with the potential to succeed.
To build this community, The Scholarship Foundation will:
- Promote and provide financial support for postsecondary education;
- Assure that students have the information necessary to make sound financial decisions;
- Lead a collaborative network of community and educational partners aligned to support student preparation, transition, and persistence to degree completion.
To those who share its vision, the Foundation offers opportunities to participate in its realization through financial and in-kind support and volunteerism. The Foundation contributes to enlightened public policy through advocacy for its vision of postsecondary educational opportunity without financial barriers.
What We Do
The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis, a federally qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, opens doors to higher education through direct assistance programs for students and through active participation in many aspects of the St. Louis regional community.
- The Foundation’s core financial aid programs provide interest-free, fee-free loans and outright grants to students for postsecondary education. Over the last 5 years, the Foundation has distributed over $22 million to qualified area students who are pursuing graduate, bachelors, associate, and technical degrees at accredited educational institutions throughout the United States.
- Loan repayments are recycled into new loans for additional qualified students. (For more details about The Scholarship Foundation’s interest-free loans and grants, see Student Loans and Grants.)
- The Student Advising Program provides information and guidance to assist more than 6,000 area students annually in determining what educational opportunities they want to pursue after high school. The program operates through active partnerships with dozens of high schools, libraries, college access, and community service organizations. (For descriptions of Student Advising Program services go to Advice.)
- Founded upon the conviction that an educated society is essential to democracy, The Scholarship Foundation is committed to policy and systems change that will increase college access and affordability. Core to the Foundation’s policy work are the experiences of students. The Foundation engages current college students to research and analyze policy, craft policy positions, involve other students in advocacy, and advocate at the state and federal levels. (For more information about The Scholarship Foundation’s policy priorities, see Advocacy.)
- The Foundation conducts free public workshops at which students and their family members can learn more about financial aid, decipher confusing official notifications of aid eligibility and become familiar with basic principles of financial literacy. (For more information about Scholarship Foundation workshops see Workshops and Assistance.)
- The Scholarship Foundation provides a variety of philanthropic options to donors who choose to support its educational programs. These include donations of cash and securities, and planned giving through trusts, gift annuities, and bequests. (To see which donation options might best meet your needs, please explore the Donate section of this website.)
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