Latino Scholarship Awards

TAMPA, Fla. (Aug. 13, 2009) – With the celebration of this year’s University of South Florida Latino Scholarship Program Awards on Aug. 19, support for first generation college students is stronger than ever. Currently 125 students are receiving scholarships, each paired with a scholarship sponsor who serves as a mentor until the student graduates. Over 500 community leaders, local dignitaries, students, sponsors, family members, guests and USF administrators are expected at the celebration which will be held in USF Theatre I at 6 p.m. Attendees must RSVP by calling (813) 974-0537.

“For the last 18 years, our community has been committed to supporting our institution and our Latino Scholarship recipients,” said Patsy Feliciano. “This commitment extends beyond writing a check. Our scholarship sponsors not only provide our recipients with their generous financial assistance but they also offer each student mentorship, encouragement and opportunities that make a major impact on their lives.”

Over the past 18 years has grown to over 225 donors and awarded over $1.5 million in scholarships and raised over $2.4 million in endowments, totaling $4.1 million with state matching funds.

Emphasizing the importance of higher education at this year’s awards celebration is keynote is noted educator Lincoln Tamayo, vice president of operations for the Academy Prep Centers of St. Petersburg and Tampa. This pair of private coed middle schools inspires and empowers disadvantaged urban students to be future community leaders through a rigorous academic and extracurricular program coupled with ongoing graduate support through high school and college.

High achievement and financial need along with involvement in the Latino community of Tampa are the requirements for scholarship consideration in a program that is open to applicants throughout the university. The total value of each scholarship ranges from $4,000 to $14,000 and is renewable for up to four years. Scholarship recipients can be found majoring in pre-medicine, pre-dentistry, education, engineering, architecture, pre-law and business as well as many other disciplines.

The number of graduates from the program now stands at 252. This year 14 scholarship graduates went on to pursue graduate degrees, among them two have earned MA degrees in architecture, one was accepted into USF Medical School, one into law school and 10 others are pursuing other graduate programs.

The pattern of achievement that leads to scholarships continues as our students graduate,” Feliciano said. “Many are now serving our communities in fields such as education, nursing, medicine, law, engineering, accounting and other professions.”

For more information about the Latino Scholarship Program visit http://usfweb2.usf.edu/latscholar/ or call (813) 974-7124.

This event is presented by the USF President Judy Genshaft and the USF Latin Community Advisory Committee and sponsored by Bright House Networks, Centro Tampa, The Florida Lottery, La Gaceta, OSI Restaurant Partners LLC and Univision.

The University of South Florida is one of the nation's top 63 public research universities and one of 39 community-engaged, four-year public universities as designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. USF was awarded more than $360 million in research contracts and grants in FY 2007/2008. The university offers 224 degree programs at the undergraduate, graduate, specialist and doctoral levels, including the doctor of medicine. The university has a $1.8 billion annual budget, an annual economic impact of $3.2 billion, and serves more than 46,000 students on institutions/campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and Lakeland. USF is a member of the Big East Athletic Conference.

-USF-

Barbara Melendez
News Coordinator
University Communications & Marketing
813-974-4563
bmelendez@admin.usf.edu