Seven seniors are Gates Millennium Scholars

Graduating seniors from Kearny High Science Connections and Technology, San Diego High School of Business, Scripps Ranch High School and University City High schools are among 1,000 students nationwide who have been awarded 2013 Gates Millennium Scholarships.

The program awards the Class of 2013 Gates Millennium Scholars good-through-graduation scholarships which can be used to pursue degrees in any undergraduate major at the accredited college or university of the recipients’ choice. It is funded through a $1.6 billion grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and has helped remove barriers to education for more than 20,000 high-performing, low income students since it was established in 1999. It is administered by the United Negro College Fund in partnership with with the American Indian Graduate Center Scholars, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund.

Three students from University City High School – Susan Stewart, Matthew Wood and Calvin Yao – received the scholarships. Also receiving scholarships were: from the San Diego High School of Business, Miguel Anzelmetti and Anesheawa Senior; Nhat Quang Thai, Kearny Science Connections and Technology; and Solomon Ephraim, Scripps Ranch High School.

"All of us at the San Diego Unified School District commend the hard work of these students and are thrilled with the opportunity they are receiving from the Gates Millennium Scholarship Program," said Superintendent Bill Kowba.

According to the program, it provides recipients with leadership development opportunities, mentoring, academic and social support as well as financial support. Known for its recipients' high graduation rates, Gates Millennium Scholars have a six-year graduation rate of more than 86 percent (38 percent higher than the national graduation rates for all students) and comparable to the rates for students from high-income families.

Students have already been accepted to four-year institutions. Scripps Ranch High's Ephraim is scheduled to attend UC Santa Barbara. At UC High, Susan Stewart is slated for UC Berkeley, New York University or UCLA; Matthew Wood, Brown University; and Calvin Yao, UC Berkeley, University of Chicago or UCLA. San Diego High's School of Business Miguel Anzelmetti is going to UCSD and Anesheawa Senior is going to Tuskegee University.

Qualifications for the program include: a 3.3 grade point average; African American, American Indian – Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander American, or Hispanic American ethnic groups; will enroll for the first time at a U.S. located, accredited college or university (with the exception of students concurrently pursuing a high school diploma) in the fall of 2013 as a full-time, degree-seeking, first-year student; have demonstrated leadership abilities through participation in community service, extracurricular or other activities; meet the Federal Pell Grant eligibility criteria. First-time college enrollees can also be GED recipients.

For more information, visit the program's website.