The Bumble Bee Seafood Company Establishes Scholarship Program to Create Access to Higher Education for San Diego-Area BIPOC Students

SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Bumble Bee Seafood Company is proud to announce a newly-established partnership with The San Diego Foundation created to award local Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) students with academic scholarships on an ongoing basis, beginning with the 2022-2023 school year.

San Diego County students who are graduating high school seniors or current four-year, community college or trade/vocational school students will have the opportunity to apply for The Bumble Bee Seafood Company Foundation Scholarship starting December 1, 2021. Each year, four students will be awarded a $2,500 scholarship to help increase accessibility to affordable education. Students that continue to meet basic academic standings will be eligible to have the scholarship renewed for an additional year.

“Our intention with these scholarships is to open a path to achievement and advancement for students of color and to help take steps toward breaking cycles of inequality in academics,” said Jan Tharp, President and CEO, The Bumble Bee Seafood Company. “These scholarships are a tangible way that our company can continue our commitment to ‘show love’ to people in the community where we live and work.”

According to the latest report by the American Council on Education, a smaller proportion of bachelor’s degrees are earned by students of color. On top of that, longstanding racial and ethnic disparities increase the debt burdens students carry into their adult life.

“Students from Latinx, Black and low-income communities in San Diego continue to be historically underrepresented in higher education,” said Danielle Valenciano, Director of Community Scholarships at The San Diego Foundation. “Significant barriers like affordability and the achievement gap continue to lower underrepresented students’ odds of obtaining a bachelor’s degree. These scholarships are one of the most important ways we can generate economic opportunity and support upward mobility in San Diego.”

As this annual scholarship makes its debut for the 2022-2023 school year, a committee of Bumble Bee employees will evaluate candidates and select the final recipients. While all BIPOC students with a minimum unweighted GPA of 2.5 are encouraged to apply, students who are first in their family to attend college, demonstrate a financial need and have shown a commitment to their community through meaningful community service will be highly considered.

For more information about the scholarship and application, please visit https://www.sdfoundation.org/students/common-scholarship-app/.