SanDisk’s $1M Scholars Fund Encourages Students to Pursue Engineering & Technology

SanDisk’s $1M Scholars Fund Encourages Students to Pursue Engineering & Technology

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Milpitas, CA—SanDisk Corporation will award $1,000,000 this year in needs-based scholarships to students from disadvantaged backgrounds through its SanDisk Scholars Fund.

Funded by the SanDisk Foundation, which provides philanthropic support to charitable organizations, the SanDisk Scholars Fund supports the educational goals of women, Latino and African-American students pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Scholarships of up to $10,000 per student will be awarded to graduating high school seniors, community college students or students already enrolled in a STEM-related course of study.

The fund targets students who have the academic promise to attend college and require the economic assistance to pursue careers in STEM-related fields. SanDisk believes that helping talented and qualified students obtain university degrees in science, engineering and technology leads to growth in the technology industry and increases the overall competitiveness of the U.S.

“The goal of the SanDisk Scholarship Fund is to help disadvantaged students to pursue studies in technology and engineering,” said Sanjay Mehrotra, president and CEO, SanDisk. “Our hope is to alleviate the under-representation of women, Latinos and African-American students in STEM-related occupations. As U.S. Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, said, ‘Preparing young people for success in life is not just a moral obligation of society but is also an economic imperative. The onus to improve education lies not just with our school officials, but with local business partners, philanthropic organizations, community based organizations, higher education institutions, and families as well.’”

SanDisk evaluated a wide range of options to determine how it could effectively enhance academic performance in engineering and technical areas, especially for students from underserved communities. The company believes its focused scholarships will encourage young people who traditionally have had limited opportunities to pursue a STEM-related career.

The SanDisk Foundation is partnering with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, International Scholarship and Tuition Services, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the United Negro College Fund to identify students fitting the SanDisk Scholar Fund’s applicant profile, process applications, award scholarships and provide support services to scholarship recipients.

Of the $1 million committed for this year, a portion of SanDisk’s Scholar Fund is committed to students attending one of these five U.S. universities: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California-Berkeley, University of California-Los Angeles and University of Texas-Austin. Funding for STEM-related research grants is also planned and included in this amount.

Interested students can find all of the eligibility requirements, online applications, and required accompanying documents at www.sandisk.com/scholars_fund.

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