Cerritos College News Release

NORWALK, Calif. - May 15, 2008 - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced last week that the California Community Colleges (CCC) has received a commitment of $70 million to support private scholarships for its students from the San Francisco-based Bernard Osher Foundation. The commitment is made as part of the Osher Initiative for CCC students and represents the single largest gift to a community college system in the nation and among the largest gifts ever made to higher education. Chancellor Diane Woodruff joined the Governor in making this historic announcement.

The support our local community college students will receive with this philanthropic gift is enormous.

“We are entirely pleased that the Osher Foundation’s historic gift to California community college students will bring highly valuable scholarships to students right here at Cerritos College,” said Dr. Stephen Johnson, vice president of student services at Cerritos College, upon receiving the bright news. “Each $1,000 scholarship will make it possible for a student to attend Cerritos with much less worry about expenses.”

“The Osher Foundation scholarships will contribute to the well being of all members of our community. Many more students will pursue their part of the California dream—be it in biochemistry, automotive repair, teaching, business, nursing or any of the roughly 200 areas of study offered by Cerritos College—and we will all be better off.”

The Cerritos College Foundation Executive Director Steve Richardson agrees.

“The Cerritos College Foundation is excited about this unprecedented gift and looks forward to rising to the challenge of matching donated dollars,” said Richardson. “Though attending a community college is the most affordable path to higher education, many of our students face a number of challenges, particularly financial, to stay on that path.”

“Donations like this from the Bernard Osher Foundation will help fill such an important need for our students – the opportunity to apply and receive scholarships and awards to help fund their education.”

The Osher 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 is forthcoming immediately to fund an endowment managed by the Foundation for California Community Colleges (FCCC).

The remaining $25 million will be contributed to the endowment on a two-to-one match fundraising effort with the FCCC, the CCC System Office and state's community colleges to raise a matching $50 million over the next three-years. The goal is to build a total $100 million endowment for annual student scholarships. When fully funded, it is expected that at least 5,000 scholarships will be awarded each year.

In addition to the $50 million gift, the Osher Initiative provides $20 million to support endowed scholarship programs for community college students transferring to the California State University and UC campuses.

Cerritos College serves as a comprehensive community college for southeastern Los Angeles County. Communities within the college’s district include Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, La Mirada, Norwalk, and portions of Bell Gardens, Lakewood, Long Beach, Santa Fe Springs and South Gate. Cerritos College offers degrees and certificates in more than 200 areas of study in nine divisions. Annually, more than 1,200 students successfully complete their course of studies, and enrollment currently nears 20,000 students. Visit Cerritos College online at www.cerritos.edu.

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Cerritos College

Releases 2008