The Bernard Osher Foundation has donated $70 million to support private scholarships for California’s community college students. The donation is the single largest gift to a community college system in the nation and one of the largest gifts ever made to higher education, according to the Office of the Governor. “We are all overjoyed about this historic and unprecedented gift to the California Community Colleges,” California Community Colleges Chancellor Diane Woodruff said. The gift was made courtesy of the Osher Initiative for CCC students. The initiative includes two separate monetary commitments that will assist students with $1,000 scholarships at each of California’s 109 community colleges. A $50 million gift will support endowed annual scholarships at CCCs, $25 million of which will fund an endowment managed by the Foundation for California Community Colleges. The remaining $25 million will be contributed to the endowment on a two-to-one match, according to the Office of the Governor. The community college foundation will partner with the CCC System Office and state’s community colleges to raise a matching $50 million over a three-year period. The resulting $100 million endowment will serve as a permanent fund for annual student scholarships. Once the endowment is fully funded, it is expected that at least 5,000 scholarships will be awarded annually.
