Thanks to our generous donors, the Los Rios Colleges Foundation awarded $585,000 in scholarships to 957 students last year.
Why Give to Scholarships?
The majority of our students are low-income and eligible for less financial aid than students attending four-year institutions. Due to the high cost of living in the Sacramento region, most students work 20 to 40 hours per week to make ends meet.
Scholarships allow students to take more units, work fewer hours, focus on school, and complete their goals in less time.
Types of Scholarships
Named Scholarships
You can create a named scholarship – in your name, the name of your business, or even the name of a loved one – for as little as $500. You can direct a named scholarship to support students majoring in particular programs or areas of study that match your interests.
Endowed Scholarships
Endowed scholarships are a perpetual gift to the college made in honor of a special person, event, or organization. Endowed scholarships begin at $10,000. Only the interest from the endowment is used to fund yearly scholarships, providing permanent support to students.
Take Action – Fund a Scholarship Today
To establish a scholarship, complete and sign the following form and return it to Kristin Emmett, Los Rios Colleges Foundation 1919 Spanos Court, Sacramento, CA 95825 or emmettk@losrios.edu. For questions, please call us at (916) 568-3075.
Download the New Scholarship Form.
Please note that we are charged 5% on credit card gifts. If you are renewing your scholarship online with a credit card, then please add an additional 5%, so that we can award the scholarship in full. To avoid this 5% fee, you may mail a check made out to the Los Rios Colleges Foundation to 1919 Spanos Court, Sacramento, CA 95825. Please write the name of the scholarship and/or college in the memo.
We are collecting brief biographies of all our scholarship donors, and you can help us by providing your donor bio. We provide this information to scholarship students, so they will know a more about you (and how to address their thank you note).
How are Scholarship Recipients Selected?
To be eligible for a Foundation scholarship, students must have completed at least one class at one of our colleges (American River, Cosumnes River, Folsom Lake, or Sacramento City) and be enrolled in at least one class when they apply for a scholarship. Students do not have to be US citizens or permanent residents.
The scholarship selection committee is made up of Foundation Board Members. The committee evaluates all application materials before selecting recipients for individual scholarships. The committee's decisions are based on financial need, academic ability, future potential, articulation of goals, leadership, and personal service.
If no student matches a scholarship's criteria, then the scholarship funds will be kept in the donor's scholarship account for the next year. Scholarships cannot be awarded to a student who is related to the scholarship donor.
Community Partner Scholarships
If you are a member of a local community group that offers a scholarship to Los Rios students and you want to advertise it with us, please let us know using the following form.
Are you a student?
Do you want to apply for a Foundation scholarship? Head over to our scholarships page.