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SALT LAKE CITY — Gregoria Alegria said her whole life she’s wanted to be a lawyer.
Now, attending University of Utah full time in her pursuit of law school, Alegria said without scholarships she wouldn’t even be able to “think” about achieving her dream.
“The harms of not knowing where you are going to get that money to be able to pay for school include stress, anxiety and much more,” Alegria said. “I remember being in class, thinking over and over again if my (financial aid) would be on time, if the scholarship money would be enough to pay for tuition, books and other things.”
Alegria, who joined Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski outside of her office on Friday for a news conference announcing the HOPE Scholarship, a program designed to help low-income, first generation college students in Salt Lake City pay for college.
“It would not be possible, what I’m doing today, without incredible scholarships like the Salt Lake City HOPE Scholarships,” said Alegria, who is also a YouthCity intern in the Mayor’s Office for Diversity and Human Rights.
The HOPE scholarship — which stands for Helping Our People Excel — was created to award eligible first-generation college students in Salt Lake City with up to $7,000 per academic year with a $500 stipend for books to help “close the gap” between other scholarship funds, financial aid and the cost of tuition and fees, Biskupski announced.
The scholarship is funded with $150,000 in seed money from the Semnani Family Foundation and the University of Utah Eccles School of Business.
“Often in life a little bit of help can go a long way toward turning a dream into a reality,” Biskupski said. “It can provide the kind of hope that can change the trajectory of someone’s life and open them up to worlds of possibility.”
That’s what the scholarship aims to do, the mayor said, specifically for Salt Lake City low-income students who want to be the first in their families to go to college.
“They represent the future of Salt Lake City, so we are investing in their promise today,” she said. “It sends an important message to students and their families that we are all on their side.
The mayor called it a “legacy opportunity” in the city’s work to expand education opportunities and an “unprecedented” collaboration with the U.’s business school and the Semnani Family Foundation.
“Together we share the belief that a strong educational foundation puts all of our kids on a pathway to success in life,” the mayor said. “Education is the vehicle of dreams. It lifts us up. Provides hope. It changes futures. This is especially true for our kids who come from communities where rates of poverty is high, academic achievement is low, and going to college is the exception.”
The scholarship is open to incoming and currently enrolled University of Utah students, with priority given to students who have participated in Salt Lake City’s YouthCity or the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Promising Youth Project or Explorers Program.
To be eligible, students must be enrolled full time at the University of Utah, be a first-generation college student, be a Salt Lake City resident, demonstrate financial need through eligibility for financial aid grants, and have an incoming GPA of 3.0 or higher. Scholarships may also be available to the students who live in the 84116, 84104 or 84114 ZIP codes.
Students can apply online at eccles.utah.edu.
