Scholarship Fund of Alexandria Commits Additional $120,000 to College Scholarships for T.C. Titans
Alexandria, Va. — The Scholarship Fund of Alexandria (SFA) Board of Trustees has voted to create ten brand new scholarships totaling $120,000 over four years to help students in Alexandria City Public Schools afford college.
The scholarships are awarded to T.C. Williams High School seniors with financial need on a competitive basis each year and can be renewed over four years to help ensure students have the consistent financial support they need to graduate from college. This new funding will enable the creation of ten additional scholarships to support students like Anya Faruki, who last year received a $24,000 scholarship over four years to attend the University of Virginia.
The announcement was made during an event where ACPS families, leaders and educators gathered to support and celebrate the creation of the “Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr. Scholarship” – a scholarship that will be awarded to a high performing T.C. Williams High School graduate next spring. The scholarship honors Dr. Hutchings, the new ACPS Superintendent, T.C. Williams Class of 1995 graduate, former SFA scholarship recipient and SFA Portrait of Success.
“Each year the SFA has had to turn away hard-working students because we simply didn’t have enough funding to meet the need. The newly created scholarships mean that we will be able to help change the lives of ten more T.C. graduates whose families simply cannot afford college. And in a high school like T.C. Williams, where 61 percent of students are eligible for free and reduced price meals, that is tremendously important,” said SFA Board Chair Priscilla Goodwin.
With the help of the local community, each year SFA awards more than $1 million to help send Alexandria public school students to college. Since 1986, the SFA has awarded $14.5 million in aid to help send 4,600 T.C. Williams students to college.
“The Scholarship Fund strives to ensure that all hard-working public school students in Alexandria with college dreams can make them a reality. Last year we saw a 25 percent increase in applications mirroring the great need in this community. We will have to step up our fundraising efforts on behalf of our students, but the generous Alexandria community has always risen to the challenge when it comes to helping our kids get to college,” said SFA Executive Director Beth Lovain.
The SFA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that helps Alexandria students with financial need achieve their higher education goals through college advising programs and college scholarships.
