Military Veterans at MiraCosta College to Benefit from Major Howard Charitable Foundation Grant

Students to speak on how scholarships changed their lives at MiraCosta Foundation’s Annual Scholarship Awards Celebration

When Ingrid Phillips enrolled in MiraCosta College, she had been homeless for several months after the housing crisis caused her to lose her job processing loans. A single mother of four, Phillips last attended school 27 years ago, when she graduated from high school in Michigan. Now, Phillips is completing her Associate Degree in Business Office Technology at MiraCosta College and has earned a place on the college’s President’s List with a 3.48 GPA. She is headed to Cal State San Marcos to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Business.

“MiraCosta College has changed my life,” says Phillips, who is one of nearly 200 MiraCosta College students this year receiving scholarships from the MiraCosta College Foundation.

This year, MiraCosta College Foundation is awarding a record-breaking $300,000 in scholarships, nearly double of last year. The foundation will also award an additional $40,000 in direct aid to students for textbook purchases, bus passes and emergency aid.

“Despite of, or maybe because of the tough economy, alumni and friends of the college have substantially increased giving scholarships. Their thoughtfulness and generosity are helping our students reach for and achieve their educational goals,” says Linda Fogerson, executive director of the MiraCosta College Foundation.

During the Annual Scholarship Awards on May 18 in the MiraCosta College Concert Hall, 176 students will receive scholarships. The invitation-only ceremony will begin at 4:30 p.m. and will include remarks from MiraCosta College President/Superintendent Francisco Rodriguez. Vice President of Student Services Dick Robertson and MiraCosta College Foundation board member Ken Noonan, will emcee the ceremony. A reception facilitating an opportunity for donors to meet their scholarship recipients will precede the ceremony at 3:30 p.m., outside of the Concert Hall.

At the ceremony, scholarship donors will be acknowledged and will have the opportunity to publicly present their scholarship to student recipients. Among the speakers will be scholarship recipients Ingrid Phillips and Josefina Medina, who will share their success stories.

Medina grew up in Mexico, coming to the United States at age 18 with a sixth-grade education and limited English, but a desire to succeed. While working at McDonalds, she discovered that she liked teaching. “Deep down, it was my desire to go back to school and become the best teacher,” Medina says. 

More than a decade later after having two children and completing her high school education at Vista Adult School, Medina enrolled at MiraCosta College, majoring in Liberal Studies with plans to get her teaching credential. She is on the college’s President’s List and served as president of the Parents on Campus Club and Latina Leadership Network. Medina, like many other scholarship recipients, spends many hours serving in the community, including at her son’s school. 

“MiraCosta College has taught me that I can achieve anything I set my mind to,” says Medina, who is now headed to Cal State San Marcos where she will major in Spanish and literature on her way to becoming a teacher.

To learn more about how you can transform lives with a gift to one of our scholarship funds, or about how you can set up your own named scholarship at MiraCosta College, visit foundation.miracosta.edu/whatwedo_scholarships.html or contact Linda Fogerson at 760.795.6775 or lfogerson@miracosta.edu. To speak to any of the students mentioned in this release, please contact Cheryl Broom at 760.795.6612.