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Black Excellence Fund

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Black Excellence Scholarship Fund
Santa Clara University established the Black Excellence Scholarship Fund to help recruit, retain, and educate Black students.

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Established in 2020, the goal of this scholarship fund is to help recruit, retain, and educate Black undergraduate students, to further diversify the Santa Clara campus community, and to catalyze systems that allow for greater solidarity with students of color. This is a need-based scholarship with priority granted to Black first-generation college students.

 

$1m

Overall Goal

$854k

Total Raised to Date

990

Number of Gifts

 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at SCU

One of a number of initiatives meant to establish greater solidarity with students, staff and faculty of color, the Black Excellence Scholarship fund will help to foster the diverse and beloved community of generous encounter to which we all aspire at Santa Clara. The scholarship honors Black students from Melvin Lewis ’53 – the first Black student to graduate from Santa Clara University – to the generations of students of color who have followed and made significant contributions to our community and the world.

 

 

Scholarship Fund FAQs

Interested in more details on the Black Excellence Scholarship, including eligibility and award status information? See below for frequently asked questions or reach out to Mike Wallace at mjwallace@scu.edu or (408) 554-4981 for more information.

The Black Excellence Scholarship Fund supports self-identified Black undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need. The scholarship has a preference for first-generation college students and would be awarded to an incoming first-year or transfer student.

No, graduate students may be eligible for other awards through their school or departments.

There is not a separate application for this scholarship. Students would automatically be considered after submitting the Common Application and financial aid forms (FAFSA and CSS Profile)

Scholarships are awarded based on academic achievement, involvement and leadership in their school and community, and demonstrated financial need.

The amount and number of awards will vary depending upon the year and the growth of the scholarship endowment.

In this first year, we will award at least one scholarship with the hope to grow the number of awards over the years.

Recipients will be notified by the University before June, and the award would be listed as a part of your financial aid package in your eCampus account.

Recipients must meet satisfactory academic progress.

This would be a 4-year renewable scholarship. The amount listed would be awarded each year for up to 12 consecutive quarters (4 years).

No, this scholarship will have no impact on the eligibility to receive other financial aid.

Recipients may be eligible for acceptance into the LEAD Scholars Program or other honors programs. Additional mentorship opportunities may be available as well.

Gifts to this scholarship are invested in the University endowment and the scholarship payout would be determined based on the December 31st value of the fund. The annual scholarship payout is approximately 4.5% of the December 31st value.