College is expensive. The colleges know this; the government knows this; private funders know this. Using some combination of available funds, colleges desire for the students and financial needs of the students will offer scholarship packages to help alleviate financial burden.

Additionally, there are thousands of private scholarships available. Search engines help with the onerous project of matching hyper-specific qualifications with available scholarships.

I’m sharing this today because our scholarship process just opened. We have academic scholarships for both undergraduate and graduate students, both merit-based and need-based. We have need-based scholarships for Jewish sleep-away camps and Israel programs. We provide local camps and schools funding for their students with documented individual learning needs.

We support Birthright Israel, a free educational trip to Israel for our 18–26-year-olds. I encourage everyone eligible to sign up for this program. My youngest son is leaving on his trip on Sunday.

We have a firm deadline of February 21, 2025, for all applications. This winter break is a good time for students to begin the process. Please click here to learn more and apply.

Finally, remember to fund Israel Experience accounts for children and grandchildren before the end of the year. Program details can be found here. Let Federation help fund those future Israel trips.