Imagine if a donation to the Pikes Peak State College Foundation could help not one, but two deserving students. Two lives pursing their educational dreams of achieving a degree or certificate.
Two lives landing their dream jobs and creating careers in the Pikes Peak Region. Two lives forever impacted by generosity, giving back to create a better Colorado Springs, El Paso County and Southern Colorado.
COSI is a network of student support and scholarship programs throughout the State of Colorado. By increasing student success and financial resources, Colorado will experience more students enrolling in, succeeding at and completing college.
Last year, eligible Colorado counties, institutions of higher education and community workforce programs were encouraged to apply for COSI grants. This past fall COSI awarded a matching scholarship grant to PPSC; then in January it awarded the grant for PPSC and University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) for El Paso County.
The COSI grant enables an individual gift to go twice as far helping twice as many deserving students. Approximately 300 new scholarships, for both degree and certificate seeking PPSC students, will be created and each student will receive an award between $2,000 – $2,500.Scholarship recipients must be U.S. residents, qualify for in-state tuition, maintain a 2.0 grade point average and meet specific Pell eligibility requirements.
Scholarship awardees must engage in PPSC’s rigorous student support success program including orientation, career and academic advising and financial aid advising.
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Pikes Peak State College is announcing a campaign for $1 million of new scholarships.
The College has been awarded $493,000 of matching scholarship grant dollars from the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative (COSI); the campaign is to raise the remaining $507,000.
PPSC was awarded a $140,000 grant and is a partner with UCCS for the El Paso County grant of $680,000. The funding available in El Paso County is split evenly, $340,000 each, between UCCS and PPSC.
To receive the $480,000 total COSI funds PPSC must match that amount through new or increased scholarship contributions. While raising these matching funds, PPSC will continue funding its existing $475,000 of scholarships and grants.
Currently 50 percent of jobs in Colorado are skilled trades, with an 8 percent gap between open jobs and available qualified employees. This impacts growth and economic development of the Pikes Peak Region.
This scholarship funding will make it possible for local residents to gain access to higher education degree and certificate programs that align tuition assistance with workforce development. Scholarship recipients will receive training and education to be well equipped for skilled trade and professional careers in El Paso County.