Scholarship Application for Students Under Age 24 is Open at Community Foundation of Sarasota County

The application deadline for more than 70 different scholarships is March 2, 2025.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—The Community Foundation of Sarasota County has opened its Traditional Scholarship Application for students planning for the 2025-2026 school year.

With a single application, a student may be considered for more than 70 different scholarships available to students residing in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties. The application deadline is March 2, 2025.

Kirsten Russell, Vice President of Community Impact at the Community Foundation, said that investing in postsecondary education provides individuals with a path to prosperity that ultimately reaps community-wide benefits.

“Scholarships help people achieve their dreams, which is personally fulfilling, but we realize that in our dynamic and changing economy, it is vital that we build and maintain a workforce of skilled professionals, critical thinkers and problem-solvers,” Russell said. “Expertise and competence required in our evolving world are developed and refined in postsecondary educational experiences, whether that’s college, technical institutes, or other credential-bearing training opportunities.”

While academics are considered, other important factors are financial need, community service and extracurricular activities, work, home life, and an essay. The strategy overall is to provide access for students to pursue their goals, reducing barriers to ease the financial burden of postsecondary educational attainment.

For the 2024-2025 school year, the Community Foundation awarded $790,000 in Traditional Scholarships to applicants under the age of 24. The average scholarship award in 2024 -2025was $3,500, a 34 percent increase from 2023-2024 average size of $2,600. The foundation also increased the number of renewable scholarships it awarded in the 2024-25 year, up to 32 percent of total applicants from 23 percent the previous year.

Scholarship renewals is a strategy the foundation is embracing as a priority to help students make it to the finish line. In the four-county region, nearly 20 percent of adults 25 and older have attended college but not earned degrees.

The region continues to emphasize the value of high school graduation and postsecondary attainment.

Overall, the Community Foundation awards more than $2 million annually to more than 500 recipients. More can be learned about the robust and varied scholarship opportunities available for adult learners, parents seeking higher education, and people aspiring to nursing programs by visiting the Community Foundation website. The Adult Scholarship Application, for people 24 and older, runs Feb. 15 through April 15, 2025.

Applications are reviewed by community volunteers and scholarships winners will be notified via email by June 2025.

The Community Foundation is seeking volunteers to serve on a scholarship review committee. This rewarding undertaking connects adults in the community with those up-and-coming leaders, allowing a glimpse into the lives and aspirations of college-bound students. Volunteer scholarship committee members fulfill a vital part of the Community Foundation’s mission of supporting the next generation of leaders, innovators, creators, and community caretakers.

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About the Community Foundation of Sarasota County: The Community Foundation of Sarasota County is a public charity founded in 1979 by the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Council as a resource for caring individuals and the causes they support, enabling them to make a charitable impact on the community. With assets of $544 million in more than 1,590 charitable funds, the Community Foundation awarded grants and scholarships totaling $56 million dollars last year in the areas of education, the arts, health and human services, civic engagement, animal welfare and the environment. Since its founding, the Community Foundation has been able to grant more than $500 million to area nonprofit organizations in our community thanks to the generosity of charitable individuals, families, and businesses. For more information, visit www.CFSarasota.org or call (941) 955-3000.