S.B. Foundation to Open Scholarships to Undocumented Students
Much of $1.6 Million in Annual Disbursements Now Going to 'Best Qualified Students'
Undocumented students in Santa Barbara County hoping to attend college just got a boost. The Santa Barbara Foundation announced earlier this month that it will no longer require proof of citizenship for scholarship disbursements as of 2014.
This means that much of the $1.6 million dollars it administers in scholarships will be open “to the best qualified students from Santa Barbara County schools regardless of citizenship status,” according to a press release.
Santa Barbara Foundation President Ron Gallo said that there was no explicit change in policy. Noncitizens had never been officially barred before, but in practice, they were not considered for scholarships. Although the Board of Directors did not unanimously support the move, he said that agreement on the matter was “overwhelming.”
