UNCF, Google award $5,000 scholarship to transfer student
A junior Cal State Long Beach student is one of 11 students selected from across the nation to receive a $5,000 scholarship from the 2007 United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and Google Scholarship Program.
Tanisha Washington, a management information systems major originally from small-town Indiana, plans to use her award to help pay for school expenses such as books and supplies, transportation costs and her relocation from Los Angeles to Long Beach to be closer to campus, according to the CSULB Office of Public Affairs.
This is the second year the scholarship has been awarded. Washington, a transfer student coming from Los Angeles City College, is the first student in the CSU system to receive the award.
“I was stunned to silence, and was barely able to walk across the lab to tell my sister, who is also a student at CSULB, the great news,” Washington said. “It was one of the great moments in my life that I will remember forever.”
UNCF and Google share the common goal to ensure that America has the requisite scientific and technological talent to compete in today’s global economy, as was stated on the scholarship information page on the UNCF website.
UNCF and Google partnered to form the scholarship program aimed toward encouraging students to excel in their studies and become active role models and leaders. The program offers “last dollar” scholarships based upon unmet financial need for students majoring in computer science or computer engineering, according to Google’s official blog.
As of 2003, African-Americans accounted for less than four percent of the total scientific and engineering workforce, according to the National Science Foundation. The UNCF/Google Scholarship Program is awarded with hopes of attracting more African-American students interested in the fields of science and technology, as well as help break down financial barriers that may cause African-American students to abandon the pursuit of a college degree.
Awarded to both undergraduate and graduate students, UNCF/Google provides scholarships to students who will be entering their senior year of undergraduate study, or are enrolled in a graduate program at a four-year college or university in the United States.
