A photo of students walking down San Bernadino Valley College walkway with trees to either side.

 

SAN BERNARDINO, California—Over the past two months, the San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC) Foundation has been awarded more than $500,000 in grants from local and national funders, including the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, the Jay Pritzker Foundation, Edison International, and SoCalGas.

 

The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, a long-time supporter of San Bernardino Valley College, donated $300,000 to the Foundation to support its Valley-Bound Commitment Program, which covers the costs for local high school graduates who commit to attending the community college on a full-time basis. San Manuel has provided more than $2 million in funding to support the program over the past 15 years.

 

“We are overwhelmed by the continued generosity of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians,” the SBVC Foundation Director Mike Layne said. “The long-term support from San Manuel is helping us increase our capacity to provide equitable access to higher education opportunities for everyone in our service area. 

 

The San Bernardino Valley College Foundation, now in its 50th year of operation, also received $150,000 in its third cycle of funding from the Jay Pritzker Foundation for the Finish Line Scholars Program - a program administrated by the Foundation for California Community Colleges. These funds will directly benefit SBVC students who are on their way to finishing their certificates, degrees or transfer studies at the college during the 2023-24 academic year. The Jay Pritzker Foundation award is the third of its kind from the Foundation, which earmarked a total of $100 million to donate to the California Community College system over 20 years. 

 

Layne said SBVC plans to use most of the funds from the Finish Line Scholars Program for student scholarships, and a smaller portion to provide emergency financial assistance to students to address any financial hardship that may hinder their ability to finish their degree or certificate program.

 

Edison International awarded the SBVC Foundation a total of $75,000 for two different programs: $50,000 will support the Clean Energy / Electric Vehicle (EV) Tech Program and the other $25,000 will support STEM scholarships. SoCalGas also awarded the SBVC Foundation $25,000 to continue its support for the Clean Energy / EV Tech Program, which will provide education and job training to students interested in careers working on zero emission trucks and other vehicles powered by alternative fuels. Layne said, “The ongoing support from Edison and SoCalGas has been instrumental in helping us create new pathways to higher wage jobs that will help address the future workforce needs of our growing region.”

 

For more information about how to apply for a scholarship or emergency assistance, visit: www.sbvcfoundation.org.