Grants & Funding | News
SanDisk To Award $1 million in STEM Scholarships
- By Mike Hohenbrink
- 02/02/12
Scholarships totaling $1 million will be offered to students with disadvantaged backgrounds by the SanDisk Scholars Fund to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
The need-based scholarships are aimed at women, Latinos and African Americans who want to pursue careers in STEM-related fields with up to $10,000 available per student.
Scholarships are available to high school seniors, as well as students currently enrolled in either a community college or in STEM-related coursework at a college or university.
To identify potential scholarship recipients, the SanDisk Scholars Fund is partnering with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, International Scholarship and Tuition Services (ISTS), the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Partners will consider applicant profiles and process applications before scholarships are awarded. They will also work with scholarship recipients to provide support services.
A portion of the $1 million is specifically earmarked for students attending five universities: Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Stanford University; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Los Angeles; and University of Texas at Austin, with funding intended for STEM-related research grants.
The awards are designed to improve the nation's technology industry and economic competitiveness.
"The goal of the SanDisk Scholarship Fund is to help disadvantaged students to pursue studies in technology and engineering," said Sanjay Mehrotra, president and CEO, SanDisk. "Our hope is to alleviate the under-representation of women, Latinos and African-American students in STEM-related occupations. As U.S. Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, said, 'Preparing young people for success in life is not just a moral obligation of society but is also an economic imperative. The onus to improve education lies not just with our school officials, but with local business partners, philanthropic organizations, community based organizations, higher education institutions, and families as well.'"
Applications and information about eligibility requirements and required documents can be found at sandisk.com/scholars_fund.