$1.2 million Scholarships given to Asian American students

Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF) recently doled out $1.2 million to more than 500 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students for the 2011-12 school year.

According to an article on Asianjournal.com, more than half the students live at or below the poverty level and all the awardees participate in community service and show leadership skills.

“Our primary focus is to provide scholarships to AAPI students and offer guidance, mentorship, and programs to facilitate their academic success, leadership, and professional growth,” APIASF President and Executive Director Neil Horikoshi said in the article. “It’s a historic occasion for APIASF to be able to give over $1 million worth of awards in a single year to support our students through our general APIASF Scholarship Program. We want to always be able to serve as a clearinghouse of funding to support AAPI high school and college students in their educational endeavors.”

And this scholarship money comes at a good time.

According to a recent report—Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, The College Completion Agenda, and America’s Commitment to Equity and Diversity—the AAPI population increased faster than any other major racial group between 2000 and 2010, and their college enrollment is expected to increase by 30 percent between 2010 and 2019.

The report was released by the National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education (CARE) in partnership with APIASF.

Read the full story about the APIASF scholarships at Asianjournal.com and the full story about the report at APIASF.com.