ACUMEN stands for Aspire to College or University: Meet your Education Nexus. The ACUMEN Scholarship seeks to provide scholarships to students from Youth Spirit Artworks (YSA) in Berkeley and Oakland Tech High School and McClymonds High School who face serious financial challenges and who are committed to attend college. 

This scholarship awards up to 3 new scholarships each year. Awards for students attending 2-year colleges will be $5,000 each and awards for students attending 4-year colleges will be $8,000 each. Awards can cover educational costs including tuition, fees, books, and supplies. 

This scholarship also strongly encourages its scholars to take advantage of academic, social, and/or cultural support services at their higher education institution. Students who do so will be eligible to renew their awards in future years. Current ACUMEN scholars are invited to renew their awards each year of college by demonstrating "good standing."

NOTES FOR 2025:

The ACUMEN Scholarship and the East Bay Community Foundation recognize that disruptions and challenges related to the pandemic are ongoing, especially for students, families, and educators. As a result, one temporary adjustment made to the ACUMEN Scholarship for the previous cycle is being extended for the 2025 cycle. We hope this adjustments will provide encouragement to potential applicants and will lessen the burden on recommenders. The following adjustment apples to the 2025 cycle:

1. Letter of Recommendation: Only 1 recommendation is required; recommenders will be asked to provide brief statements of support rather than a full letter.

This adjustments will be re-evaluated before future application cycles to determine if they are still appropriate.

Eligibility requirements for new, first-time applicants:

• Applicants must be:
  • current, graduating seniors at Oakland Tech High School in Oakland OR
  • current, graduating seniors at McClymonds High School in Oakland
  • current participants at Youth Spirit Artworks (YSA) in Berkeley who are graduating from high school; OR
  • active participants and alumni at YSA who have graduated from high school and (a) not started college or (b) only attended community college (4 year college students are not eligible for first-time applications); OR
• Must be attending either a 2-year or 4-year college or university in the upcoming fall term
• Must have a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher
• Must be eligible for federal free and reduced school lunch program 

Winners will be selected by a committee based on the following priority areas:

• Financial need
• Sense of purpose and motivation for educational pursuits
• Desire to contribute to community, cultural, societal welfare
• Demonstrated qualities such as curiosity, perseverance, initiative, activism, empathy

Eligibility requirements for renewal applicants:

• Students who re-apply must be in good standing
• Demonstrate use of support services (academic, social, cultural) that they accessed in the current academic year
• Renewal applications can also be submitted by current ACUMEN Scholarship recipients through this platform

Detailed instructions are on the application. Award announcements will be made via email no later than May 1.  

For technical assistance, please refer to the FAQ Page where you'll find lots of helpful instructions and tips.

For questions about the content or requirements of the ACUMEN Scholarship, please email the East Bay Community Foundation at scholarships@eastbaycf.org.