Inspiring Philanthropy
Scholarships for Students
We offer dozens of scholarships to assist you in reaching your educational goals — most funded by local people and businesses who want to help you succeed — because we believe that access to higher education strengthens your future and that of our entire community.
Scholarship recipient ceremony
Make Your Education & Life Dreams Into Reality
We are dedicated to supporting local students like you as you pursue higher education and career training opportunities — and awarded over $1,000,000 to 400 students last year alone. Learn how to apply below.
Timeline: Most scholarships close on Friday, March 13, 2026.
Review Open Scholarships
Every available scholarship opportunity has unique criteria, such as financial need, area of study, career goals, or life experiences.
Most scholarships open in December and close in March. Use our scholarships grid below to quickly see what opportunities are a good fit for you and your goals.
Complete the Application
Create an account in our scholarship portal, complete the general application, and get personalized scholarship recommendations.
Once you’ve created an account, complete the general application. Based on your answers, the portal will recommend scholarships you may be eligible for.
Apply for Scholarships
Submit separate applications for each scholarship by their deadlines. Recipients of awards are notified via email, typically by early June.
To submit the applications, you’ll need a copy of your most recent transcript that includes your unweighted GPA. You may also need references; copy of your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) submission summary report or CA Dream Act report; and a personal essay.
Scholarships Grid
Explore the scholarships grid below to find opportunities tailored to you and your goals, and click the scholarship name to access complete details.
| Scholarship Name | Need-Based | Academic Status (at time of application) | Present School Requirement | College/University Requirement | Required College Major | Amount | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIA Central Valley/John Ellis Architectural Scholarship | 3.5+ GPA | High school senior, undergraduate college student, graduate student or an adult re-entry student in the counties listed | Accredited 2-year or 4- year college or university or vocational school | Architecture | $1,000 | Have attended or currently attending a school in the following counties: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lassen, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Shasta, Sierra, Sutter, Tehama, Yolo or Yuba | |
| Benny Goodman Foundation | 3.0+ GPA in music courses | High school senior or undergraduate college student | Any University of California or California State University | Music with an emphasis in jazz or classical | $1,000 – $3,500 | Plan to pursue a career in music; Preference given to clarinet musicians | |
| Bryan Potts Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 2.5+ GPA | Graduating Senior at Rio Americano High School | Any accredited educational institution in a field of study leading to a baccalaureate degree | Up to $10,000 | Demonstrate Bryan’s personal characteristics | |
| Carroylin and Robert Threlkel Scholarship Fund | Demonstrated financial need | 2.5+ GPA | High school senior or undergraduate college student | Any accredited college, university, or community college | Business-related undergraduate degree | $1,000 – $5,000 | Female student |
| Creative Arts and Science Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 2.0+ GPA | Graduating high school senior at Esparto High School or have graduated from Esparto High School in Yolo County | Any accredited 2-year or 4-year college or university | $1,000-$1,500 | Write an essay on how creative thinking has played a part in your life/studies/volunteering | |
| David Breaux Memorial Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 3.0+ GPA | Yolo County high school senior or college student in their first year of study | Any accredited 2-year or 4-year college or university | $2,000 | Must have attended or be currently attending a school in Yolo County | |
| Dillard-Jackson Family Scholarship Fund | Demonstrated financial need | 3.0+ GPA | Senior from a high school in the Elk Grove school district | Any accredited 2-year or 4-year college or university with a well-recognized agricultural program | Agriculture | $1,000 | |
| Dreier Family Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 2.5+ GPA | High school senior or undergraduate college student currently attending a school in the Sacramento County | Accredited 2-year college, vocational, trade or technical school in Sacramento County | $1,000 – $3,000 | Plan to work a minimum of 10 hours per week while attending college; Preference will be given to current and former foster youth, students who have completed a semester of college, and students who have been active in their school and or community | |
| Eugene and Thora Chin Scholarship Fund | Demonstrated financial need | 4.0+ GPA in high school or 3.5+ in college | Any accredited 2-year or 4-year college, university, or graduate school | $1,000 – $6,000 | Asian/Pacific Islander heritage; Preference to students with high financial need and/or high academic merit | ||
| Erin Aaberg Givans Memorial Scholarship | 2.8+ GPA | Any accredited graduate school in California | Masters in Public Policy, Public Administration, Public Health or Health Administration | $2,500 – $5,000 | Female student; Career goal is children’s health policy or advocacy | ||
| Jack and Ellie Matranga Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 3.0+ GPA | High School senior attending a school in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, or Yolo counties | Accredited 2-year or 4- year college or university or vocational school | Mass media | $1,500 | |
| Julia R. Millon Memorial Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 2.5+ GPA | High School senior living within the boundaries of the Winters School District | Accredited 2-year or 4- year college or university or vocational school | $1,500 | ||
| Lionakis Foundation Scholarship Program | Demonstrated financial need | 2.5+GPA | High school senior or current undergraduate college student | Accredited 2-year or 4- year college or university | Architecture, Engineering and Interior design | $2,500 | |
| Li Family Charitable Foundation Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 3.0+GPA | High school senior or current undergraduate college student | Accredited 2-year or 4- year college or university | $3,000 | Preference will go to first-generation college students, to students with high financial need and those living at 185% or below the federal poverty level; to disadvantaged youth including but not limited to foster youth, orphans, teen parents, students who are actively battling or who have navigated a life challenging situation or illness, students with incarcerated parents, immigrants, or students who do not hold permanent US status. | |
| Mary Ellen Dolcini Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 2.5+ GPA | High schools in Yolo County: Davis High, Da Vinci High School, King High, Woodland High, or Pioneer High School | Accredited 2-year or 4- year college or university or vocational school | $2,500 – $10,000 | Mexican American descent | |
| Nancy B. Reardan Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 3.5+ GPA | High school seniors in Sacramento County | Accredited 2-year or 4- year college or university or vocational school | $2,000 – $4,000 | Must be a female high school senior attending a school in Sacramento County; Preference will go to current or former foster youth | |
| NorYo Opportunity Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 2.0+ GPA | High school senior residing in northern Yolo County (see zip code requirements) and planning to attend college within two years | Accredited 2-year community college, vocational or trade school | $1,000 – $10,000 | Reside in the following cities/towns & zip codes: Capay Valley (95607; 95606), Dunnigan (95937), Esparto (95627), Knights Landing (95645 only within Yolo County), Madison (95653), Woodland (95695; 95776), Yolo (95697), Zamora (95698); Preference will be given to applicants who are first generation college students; Preference will be given to renewal applicants | |
| Richard Wiesner Engineering Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 2.0+ GPA | Undergraduate college student attending Sacramento State or UC Davis | Sacramento State or UC Davis | Engineering | $2,000 | Veteran of the United States Armed Forces (DD214 required); Work part time while attending school |
| Paulsen Family Scholarship Fund | 2.0+ GPA | Graduating high school senior from Colusa or Sutter Counties, or student at a 2-year or 4-year college who graduated high school in Colusa or Sutter Counties | Any accredited 2-year or 4-year college with a well-recognize agricultural program | Agriculture, agribusiness, veterinary medicine, forestry, wildlife management, or natural resources | $1,000 – $4,500 | ||
| Ramona Burnham Scholarship Foundation | Demonstrated financial need | 3.0+ GPA | Graduating high school senior from Baldwin Park Unified School District | Any accredited 2-year or 4-year college or university vocational or trade school | $5,000 | Must be Hispanic or Latinx with English as a second language | |
| Richard & Lucille Harrison Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 2.5+ GPA (not applicable for students attending vocational school) | Woodland Joint Unified School District | Any accredited 2-year college, 4-year college, university, vocational or trade school | $10,000 | Preference will be given to students who have overcome barriers to school success | |
| Roy and Cynthia Kroener Family Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 3.0+ GPA | Graduating high school senior in Davis | Any accredited 2-year or 4-year college or university | $3,000 – $5,000 | Preference to United States citizens and renewal students | |
| Sacramento Police Foundation Scholarship | 2.5+ GPA | High school senior enrolled in a Criminal Justice and Public Service Magnet Academy program | Any accredited 2-year or 4-year college or university in California | $1,000 | Have performed a minimum of 50 hours of community service. | ||
| Sacramento Region REACH (Rincon Environment and Climate Heroes) Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 3.0 + GPA | Graduating high school student or undergraduate college student attending or have attended a high school or college in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento or Yolo Counties | Any accredited 2-year or 4-year college or university in California | Environmental sciences, land use planning, natural resources, cultural resources or sustainability | $1,500 | Preference will be given to applicants who are first generation college students |
| Sarah A. Bonnifield Vietnam Veterans Scholarship Fund | High school senior or undergraduate college student | Any accredited 2- or 4-year college or university | $1,000 | Be a Vietnam Veteran or a dependent or a spouse, son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, nephew or niece of a Vietnam Veteran | |||
| Saylor Family Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 2.5+ GPA | Graduating high school senior at Davis Joint Unified School District or Winters Joint Unified School District | Accredited 2-year or 4-year college or university or vocational school | $1,000 – $2,500 | Must have experienced significant life challenges, including but not limited to foster care, death of a family member during high school years or other family trauma, teen parenthood, behavioral health challenges, involvement with the juvenile justice system, or financial needs that resulted in working during high school | |
| Schwab-Rosenhouse Memorial Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | Graduating high school seniors who have lived in El Dorado, Placer, Yolo or Sacramento for at least two years | Accredited 2-year or 4-year college or university or vocational school within 100 miles of the Sacramento County Courthouse | $1,000 – $5,000 | Must meet California State residency requirements; If awarded, amount is contingent on financial need | ||
| Stolba/Sukkary Family Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 2.5+ GPA | Graduating high school senior or college freshman in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo or El Dorado counties | Any accredited 2-year college or vocational or trade school | $1,000 – $3,000 | Preference will be given to first generation college students | |
| SVVMA Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) Scholarship | 2.5+ GPA | Open, but must live in or attend a school in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, or Yolo counties | Any college or school with a Veterinary Technology program accredited by AVMA/CVTEA in listed counties | Veterinary Technology program accredited by AVMA/CVTEA | $400 – $800 | Demonstrate participation in organized veterinary medicine groups (local VMA’s) and/or SVVMA/SVVTA activities | |
| The Sacramento Valley Veterinary Medical Association (SVVMA) Charitable Giving Committee Student Scholarship – UC Davis | 2.5+ GPA | UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine students | UC Davis | Veterinary Medicine program | $1,000 – $1,500 | Demonstrate participation in organized veterinary medicine groups and SAVMA/local VMA’s and SVVMA activities; Demonstrate career goals after graduation; Preference will go to students who plan to practice in the greater Sacramento area after graduation | |
| The AVID-College Horizons Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | Graduating high school senior in Sacramento County | Accredited 4-year college or university | $1,500 – $2,000 | Participant in the AVID program for a minimum 3 years in high school | ||
| The Diane Dawson Memorial Scholarship | 2.5+ GPA | Graduating high school senior in greater Sacramento or Denver areas | $1,000 – $3,000 | Have a parent or legal guardian with terminal cancer or other terminal illness, or have lost a parent to a terminal disease during their tenure in high school | |||
| The Graydon and Myrth Fox Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | Accredited 2-year or 4- year college or university or vocational school | $1,000 | Be a wounded Veteran who has served honorably in the United States Armed Forces or is still serving on active duty. You must have been wounded due to a service-related circumstance or be the spouse, dependent child, or grandchild of a Veteran who was killed or wounded due to a service-related circumstance. | |||
| The Kathleen Barsotti Scholarship for Sustainable Agriculture | 3.0+ GPA | High school senior in Yolo County | Accredited 2-year or 4-year college or university | Pursuing an education that incorporates sustainable agriculture | $4,000, payable at $1,000 per year for 4 years | The scholarship is not limited to agriculture majors | |
| The Kristi Karacozoff Memorial Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 3.0+ GPA | Graduating high school senior or college student who graduated in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, or Yolo counties | $1,000 – $2,000 | Demonstrate a chronic or life-threatening illness with a doctor’s certification of medical condition | ||
| The Mark McCollum “Ride On” Scholarship | 2.5+ GPA | Undergraduate student | California State University, Sacramento | Engineering or construction | $1,000 – $2,000 | ||
| The Max and Nadine Dimick Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 3.0+ GPA | Graduating high school senior or current student | Accredited 2-year community college in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, or Yolo counties | $1,000 – $2,000 | ||
| The Nadine Dimick Nursing Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 3.0+ GPA | Accredited 2-year or 4-year college or university in the El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, or Yolo counties | Nursing | $1,000 | Must be accepted into a nursing program (pre-nursing is not allowed) | |
| The Pacific Coast Building Products Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 2.5+ GPA | Graduating high school senior | Accredited 2-year or 4-year college or university or vocational school approved by the selection committee | $500 – $5,000 | Must be a child or grandchild of a current or retired employee of Pacific Coast Building Products. | |
| The Phillip M. Dowd Memorial Scholarship | Demonstrated financial need | 3.0+ GPA | Graduating high school senior in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, Shasta, Yuba, Sutter, Colusa, or Butte Counties | Accredited 2-year or 4- year college or university | Public affairs, administration, political science, or government | $1,000 – $5,000 | |
| Yolo Youth Service Awards | Graduating high school senior in Yolo County | Accredited 2-year or 4- year college or university or vocational school | 1000; (+$500 to the sponsoring nonprofit) | Must have volunteered at least 60 hours with a recognized Yolo County nonprofit organization during the junior and/or senior year(s) of high school; Demonstration of leadership, commitment to public service, maturity, and reliability |
See Scholarships from our trusted partners
Common Questions
Please contact us for answers to questions not answered below. Email your inquiries to scholarship@sacregcf.org or call 916-921-7723 ext. 2011.
To apply for scholarships, create an account on the Sacramento Region Community Foundation’s scholarship portal. You will be asked to complete a general application; based on your answers, the system will recommend scholarships you may be eligible to apply for. You can view all of the open opportunities in the scholarship system, including any additional materials required, such as essay submissions and letters of recommendation.
Do not use your school email address when creating your account. Be sure to use your personal email address when creating your account and check your email frequently for updates about your application. When creating your account, your password must:
-
- Not contain your username or common words or phrases.
- Contain a minimum of 12 characters.
- Include at least 1 digit, 1 uppercase letter, 1 lowercase letter, and 1 of these special characters: # ? ! @ $ % ^ & * –
After you have filled out the general application, click on “other opportunities” to apply. Make sure you meet the requirements for the individual opportunities you apply to.
| Date/Time | Details |
|---|---|
| December – March | Scholarship Application: Most scholarships open during the first week of December and remain open into the spring. |
| April – May | Scholarship Application Review: The Foundation and scholarship selection committees review the applications that have been submitted for each scholarship and make award decisions. |
| April – May | Award Notifications: Scholarship award recipients are notified via email. |
| June – September | Scholarship Claim: Awardees will receive claim instructions with their offer email. The deadline to claim a scholarship award is September 1. If you need an extension to claim your scholarship, please sense a request to scholarship@sacregcf.org. |
| June – August | Declination Notification: If you were not selected for a scholarship, you will receive a declination notification via email. |
Each scholarship has an award amount or range visible on the eligibility and guidelines for the scholarship. If awarded, the amount will be based on the visible award amount and determined by the scholarship review committee and funds available.
If awarded, you will receive an award offer via email with instructions on how to claim your scholarship.
To claim a scholarship, follow the instructions under Claiming Your Award in the offer email you receive. Upon receiving all required documentation for your claim, we will process the scholarship payment to your school along with a scholarship award letter indicating the name of the scholarship, the scholarship purpose, your name, and your student ID.
If you were not selected for a scholarship, you will receive a declination notification via email by August.
The 2026-27 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), also known as the Better FAFSA, is available on the Federal Student Aid Website. Please reference the FAFSA checklist for information on filling out the FAFSA.
Due to issues and delays with the FAFSA application and summary reports, many students have experienced challenges when applying for scholarships. We will continue to offer flexible options to help you apply for our scholarships, including:
- FAFSA Flexibility: if you have any issues with your FAFSA application you can still submit the general application and apply for our scholarships by uploading the confirmation email you received after applying for the FAFSA to our system. Once you receive your FAFSA Submission Summary Report (SSR), upload it to your general application in place of the email confirmation to be eligible for our financial need scholarships; all financial need scholarships require the FAFSA SSR report to be eligible.
- SAI Flexibility: The Student Aid Index (SAI) number is provided on the FAFSA SSR or as reported on the California Dream Act Application confirmation page. If you do not have your SAI number from the FAFSA SSR due to issues or delays, please use the Federal Student Aid Estimator to get your estimated SAI and provide that figure on the general application. All financial need scholarships will require the actual SAI from the FAFSA SSR to be eligible. You must update the SAI # on your general applications once you receive your actual FAFSA SSR.
Scholarship applicants occasionally receive error messages when uploading or submitting their FAFSA and/or transcripts and/or letters of reference. If you encounter these messages, please use Google Chrome or Firefox as your browser and ensure the file you’re uploading is saved as a PDF. Make sure the file name does not include any special characters such as a period (.), dash (-), underscore (_), etc. Also, there is a character limit on the file name, so please keep your file name short.
Most scholarships offered by the Foundation are financial need-based. To qualify for these scholarships, you must provide PDF copy of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or CA Dream Act application Submission Summary Report (SSR) To avoid errors when uploading the document, please name it (FAFSA Report) Make sure the file name does not include any special characters such as a period (.), dash (-), underscore (_), etc. If you are not able to apply for the FAFSA or California Dream Act, please submit a complete IRS tax return from the previous year. If you have questions regarding this, please contact scholarship@sacregcf.org.
No, we do not recommend this. Please obtain all the required documents prior to submitting the application to ensure a completed application is available for the committee to review.
Please see the essay topic instructions for the scholarship you are applying for. Most scholarship essays have a 500-character limit.
Ideally, the recommender would submit the recommendation letter via an email request provided by the student in the application. If you have the recommendation letter, please contact the foundation to help you upload it.
Please note most recommenders will need at least two (2) weeks notice to provide a recommendation letter. We encourage you to give your recommenders as much advance notice as possible when requesting a reference. Please remember to follow up with the recommender to ensure they submit the recommendation letter to your application by the deadline.
Our recommendations are to save the file as a PDF and ensure the file name does not include any special characters such as a period (.), dash (-), underscore (_), etc.
If you are serving as a Reference or Reviewer, you are required to sign up before you can upload the reference letter or review applications. If you are having trouble signing up or signing in, please read this guide: Creating a Blackbaud ID (BBID) for Blackbaud Award and Stewardship Management.
If you/the recommender continue to experience trouble, please email scholarship@sacregcf.org.
We do not recommend using an old reference letter. If you are not able to obtain a current reference letter, we recommend you ask the prior reference to update their letter with current information and current date.
Yes, if you are studying abroad and the college you are currently attending is in the United States, and you meet the scholarship’s eligibility and criteria requirements. You are not eligible if you are not studying abroad and attending a college outside of the United States.
To access your account, please sign in using your email address and password. If you need to recover your password or you have not yet received an email confirming your account, please click on the “trouble signing in” link.
If you are having trouble signing in and get locked out of your account, please wait 30 minutes and try to log back in. If you are unsuccessful, please submit a request to unlock your account to scholarship@sacregcf.org.
If you need to delete your account for any reason, please submit the request via email to scholarship@sacregcf.org.
“I wanted to thank you again for the scholarships you awarded me throughout my career. The money you raised helped lessen the financial strain of attended college.”
Recipient, Graydon & Myrth Fox Scholarship
Volunteer Opportunities
There are a number of ways you can accomplish your community service goals with local nonprofits, and we recommend exploring the opportunities available on our nonprofit database, GivingEdge.
GivingEdge is the website that powers Big Day of Giving, the 24-hour giving day for local nonprofits that we organize each year. You can use GivingEdge year-round to learn more about organizations in your community and how you can participate in their programs.
Many local nonprofits share their volunteer opportunities on GivingEdge, making it your one-stop shop to find ways to get involved in the community.
