By Shannon Lukens. Photo courtesy Yampa Valley Community Foundation.
It is scholarship season in the Yampa Valley where scholarships are being offered by members of the community, nonprofits and businesses. This is in Routt and Moffat counties.
Scholarships are available as of Saturday, Feb. 1, through the Yampa Valley Community Foundation, which works with private donors and groups. Last year, 135 students in both counties received scholarships of more than $578,000.
Scholarships are for musicians, athletes, volunteers, first-generation students, Hispanic students, and for those pursuing healthcare, veterinary medicine or a trade. There is also a new Northwest Colorado Trade Scholarship.
To learn more or make a donation, reach out to the Yampa Valley Community Foundation at yvcf.org/scholarships or contact Jenny Campbell, Scholarship Program Manager, at 970-879-8632 or scholarships@yvcf.org.
Press Release from Yampa Valley Community Foundation
LOCAL SCHOLARSHIPS FOR YAMPA VALLEY STUDENTS
(STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO, January 24, 2025) – It is spring scholarship season in the Yampa Valley with many individual community members, nonprofit organizations and businesses offering scholarship opportunities for local students. There are scholarships for athletes, musicians, and community service volunteers; scholarships for students who are first-generation, Hispanic, or have substantial family challenges; scholarships for those pursuing healthcare, veterinary medicine, or a trade; and a scholarship whose only eligibility criteria is being a local student with financial need. Plus many, many more.
One of the largest sources for local scholarships is the Yampa Valley Community Foundation (YVCF) which works with private donors and organizations who support and fund post-secondary education for students in Routt and Moffat Counties. New this year is the Northwest Colorado Trade Scholarship, to encourage education in the trades for graduating seniors and returning adult students.
“The Routt County Building Department is pleased to initiate a new trade scholarship in partnership with the Community Foundation. Our network of local contractors is going to help promote the scholarship opportunity to their workers, and the scholarship fund has already grown from gifts from community members who value the trades,” says Todd Carr, Building Official with the Routt County Building Department.
In 2024, scholarships through YVCF exceeded $578,000 for 135 students in Routt and Moffat Counties, including graduating seniors and current college or vocational students. One scholarship awarded to students solely based on their financial need, Yampa Tuition Grants, accounted for $220,000 of that amount. YTG fund advisors Harold and Peggy Kamins state, “We had a vision for a local, need-based college grant program and are so glad to have been able to help so many students in the first two years of our scholarship program.”
Counseling staff at the high schools are collating lists of local scholarships for their students and will be sending out the information to students and families by February 1, when most scholarships open their applications. School counselors are the best point of contact for graduating seniors.
“The support this community provides to our students is incredible,” says Misty Sellden, Steamboat Springs High School counselor. “Our students feel so much encouragement for their education, regardless of what path they’re taking.”
To apply, learn more about YVCF’s existing scholarships, make a charitable contribution, or start a new scholarship fund, visit yvcf.org/scholarships or contact Jenny Campbell, Scholarship Program Manager, at 970-879-8632 or scholarships@yvcf.org.
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