COLLEGE FUND OF PINELLAS COUNTY INC

The goal of the College Fund is to provide financial assistance to enable every eligible applicant who demonstrates a significant financial need to become or remain a full time undergraduate college student in pursuit of a Bachelor's degree.

1. Apply for a grant from the Pinellas Community Foundation and other philanthropic organizations and raise additional funds from mailings to potential donors.
2. Advertise the availability of College Fund grants on scholarship search websites and contact college financial aid offices and Pinellas County High School Guidance Counselors .
3. Provide a College Fund website where donors and students can obtain more information and students can obtain an Application form.
4. Evaluate student applications for grade point average and calculated need and select eligible applicants for interviews.
5. Conduct and score interviews of selected applicants considering academic performance, financial planning, and attitude.
6. Rank order the applicants by their interview scores and award grants in that rank order until the funds available for grants are exhausted.
7. Offer mentoring to the grant recipients.

Our Board of Directors who are our all-volunteer workforce have diverse educational and experience backgrounds: five with doctorate degrees in education or engineering; nine with experience in teaching or school administration; nine with business experience, and three with federal government experience. In addition, our volunteer advisors provide needed expertise when needed in areas such as law, accounting, business administration, and recruiting.

The number of students we are supporting has grown from 38 in our fiscal year 2011 to 57 in our fiscal year 2019. Our annual funding has risen from $31,000 in fiscal year 2011 to $67,000 in fiscal year 2019.