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$2 Million Gift To Fund Scholarships At USF

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By ADAM EMERSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 13, 2008

TAMPA - An education foundation with newly formed ties to Florida has donated $2 million to bankroll the education of qualified minority and low-income students at the University of South Florida.

Leaders from USF and the Helios Education Foundation announced the gift Tuesday, noting that more than half - $1.25 million - will support the USF Latino Scholarship program.

The Latino Scholarship has awarded about $1.5 million to Hispanic students at USF in the past 17 years. Currently, 114 students receive the renewable scholarship, the value of which ranges from $4,000 to $14,000 and is backed by various philanthropists and corporations.

About $500,000 of the donation will benefit minority students from low-income families who want to study science, technology, engineering and math. The remaining $250,000 will be dispersed to other minority low-income students.

The Helios donation is eligible for a state match, which would bring the gift's value to $4 million.

If matched, the gift would bestow the Latino Scholarship on about 50 new students every year, said Patsy Feliciano, the scholarship's coordinator. The gift goes on a list of projects to be matched by the state's Major Gift Challenge Grant Program.

Although the grant program does not guarantee funding, the Legislature has strongly supported matching the gifts on its list, said Bill Edmonds, spokesman for the state university system.

The donation, backed by a foundation that has given millions to Florida education, should spur other philanthropists to act, Feliciano said.

The Helios Education Foundation is based in Arizona but set up shop in Tampa in September.

Helios donated $10 million to Florida's public colleges and universities about a year ago. About $5 million went to the university system, and $5 million was directed to community colleges. The money backed scholarships for students who were the first in their families to go to college.

Vince Roig, the foundation's chairman, said of Tampa that Helios has "a special affection for this particular area. The partnership we're looking for is long-term."

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285 or aemerson@tampatrib.com.

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