About The Denver Scholarship Foundation
The Denver Scholarship Foundation, which was co-founded by then mayor John Hickenlooper and Tim and Bernadette Marquez, who endowed it with $50 million, has offered over 3,000 need-based scholarships to DPS high school graduates since its 2006 inception.
DSF is essentially a three-part program. First, the program manages Future Centers at 16 DPS high schools, which assist students with the college application and financial aid process. Second, the program works to leverage the scholarships they provide with matches. Finally, they maintain relationships with DSF recipients to assist them in their completion of a degree by connecting those students to resources at the college level.
The criteria for DSF recipients is: four year consecutive attendance in DPS, a 2.0 or above grade point average, completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Assistance (FAFSA) by April 1st, and application to at least three other scholarships. Once a student is chosen to receive a scholarship, which are granted in the amount of up to $3,400 per year, they must attend a Transition to College workshop the summer before, and the school they enroll must be an accredited, nonprofit Colorado college or university. Students who elect to go to school out of state, or to a for-profit school in state, can still use the program to connect to scholarships.
According to Easley, the DSF tracks the students they make an investment in until they complete a post-secondary degree. At this point in time, 81 percent of scholarship recipients are still in school or have completed a degree.
For more information on the Denver Scholarship Foundation, visit denverscholarship.org.