The University of Central Florida will use a new $1.6 million donation to provide scholarships to 46 graduates from Orange County high schools in an ongoing effort to fill gaps in financial aid for students from low-income families.
Many of the students have financial aid that will help them pay their UCF tuition, which is about $6,000 per year, but the new $2,500 per year scholarships will help offset the costs of housing, books and other items that can be a “barrier.” form when completing their studies. a bachelor’s degree, UCF said.
“It may seem like a small amount, but to me it’s a big amount,” said Hellena Kyama, 18, an Evans High School graduate who received one of the new scholarships.
Kyama, whose parents are immigrants from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, is the first in her family to attend college and said the new scholarship will alleviate some financial pressure.
The Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation, a Pompano Beach-based nonprofit, donated the money for the scholarships, which will go to graduates of Colonial, Evans, Jones, Oak Ridge and Wekiva high schools, the university said. All of these high schools serve large numbers of teenagers from low-income families.
Kyama participated in the UCF Downtown Scholars Initiative, a two-part program that aims to help students from some of these high schools apply to UCF and then succeed during their first year on campus. UCF said the priority for the new scholarships in coming years will be students participating in that program, which already offers free summer tuition and scholarship options.
UCF students who received state financial aid last school year received an average of $1,670 per year, but more than 5,300 of the university’s students who qualified for aid did not receive state funding, according to a report from the Florida Department of Education.
A 2021 report from the Florida Senate noted that even students who qualified for federal Pell grants, reserved for those from the lowest-income families, did not always receive enough state financial aid to cover all of their costs at Florida universities to cover.
Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Maria Vazquez said the foundation’s donation to support additional scholarships was welcome news.
“Helping to remove some of the financial burden that can come with a student’s post-secondary dream is a gift that I know every student will be so grateful for, and I look forward to seeing that happen for them ” she said in a statement.
