Helping students focus on their education

The Need

Today’s college students struggle with the increasingly mounting costs of housing, tuition, books, transportation, etc. In too many cases, students end up quitting school and reluctantly choosing a job that ironically barely keeps them financially afloat.

A college student’s decision to work full-time rather than stay in school may help them make ends meet in the short run, but by choosing to drop out of school, they will most likely experience catastrophic consequences in their careers and lifetime income. And the impact reverberates for all those who have invested their time and treasure to ensure our students get into college in the first place — not to mention lost opportunities for expanding the future talent pool in Silicon Valley.

The Program

The East Side Education Foundation is proud to offer a scholarship program for Spartan East Side Promise students through generous support from the House Family Foundation, Ross Foundation, Santa Clara County Supervisor Otto Lee, and individuals like you.

Through the SESP Scholarship Program, we’re able to help students focus more on getting an education and less on affording basic needs.

Want to see our impact? Meet our scholarship winners from previous years:

2025 Scholarship Award Winners
2023 Scholarship Award Winners
2022 Scholarship Award Winners
2021 Scholarship Award Winners
2020 Scholarship Award Winners

The Criteria

Scholarships of $1,000 and up are available only to Spartan East Side Promise students at San José State University. Incoming first-year students and returning students are eligible to apply, provided they meet the following criteria:

  1. Graduated from a traditional public high school in the East Side Union High School District;
  2. Completed (or plan to complete) the Spartan East Side Promise Summer Program; and
  3. Have NOT previously received a Spartan East Side Promise scholarship from the East Side Education Foundation.

NOTE: Special consideration will be given to students who are the first in their families to attend college and those who participated in the Elevate [Math] program in Middle School. (Neither of these are requirements of eligibility.)

We are also actively seeking applicants who have experienced homelessness and/or the foster care system at some point in their lives.

The next round of applications for the Spartan East Side Promise Scholarship Awards are open as of June 2024.

Applicants will be notified of award decisions by September 2024. There will be an in-person event to honor the scholarship award winners in on February 5th, 2025.

Since 2020, ESEF has awarded $131,500 to 114 Spartan East Side Promise Students to support their education journeys by helping them pay for basic expenses. These scholarships are made possible with support from the House Family Foundation, Valley Medical Center Foundation, the County of Santa Clara, and community members like you. You can make a donation to the Scholarship Fund here.

If you have any questions about the scholarship program, please email [email protected]. Your donations are always welcome!