Sept. 30, 2021 (Denver, CO) – The Foundation for Colorado Community Colleges today announced 67 recipients of scholarships—Amazon Scholars—under the “Shot at a Scholarship” program. The scholarship program, funded by Amazon, is providing two full-tuition scholarships of $5,000 and five $1,000 scholarships at each of the Colorado Community College System’s 13 colleges. The 67 names were drawn from a pool of over 10,000 students who had attested to being fully vaccinated, enrolled in fall semester classes and registered in the drawing.

Governor Polis personally called the two full-tuition scholarship recipients to congratulate them on the scholarship and thank them for being among the growing number of students who are choosing to protect themselves and their peers by getting vaccinated. The Amazon scholars include Megan DeGeorge, who returned to Pueblo Community College this semester after taking some time off. “The scholarship will allow me to focus more on my studies by not having to work part time,” she said. Megan added that “the timing of the scholarship gave me confidence and confirmation that I made the right decision to come back to campus.”  Lawrence Pantoya, who is putting the scholarship toward his nursing education at Otero College, said that he and his fellow students are eager to graduate and join the workforce to do their part in combating COVID-19.

The Shot at a Scholarship program is one of numerous incentives being offered in the state to increase vaccination rates. Rates among college campuses vary, with campuses having up to 69 percent of students over 80 percent of faculty and staff vaccinated as of early September, according to data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The average at the time across all 13 community colleges was over 60 percent of students fully or partially vaccinated. Devon Rodriguez, an Amazon Scholar at Trinidad State College, said “the mask mandate and sanitation at TSC, in combination with vaccinated students, has created a safe environment to focus on classes instead of COVID concerns.”

“We’re doing all we can to ensure the safety of our students, faculty and staff, while continuing to deliver on our mission of providing an accessible and affordable education,” said CCCS Chancellor Joe Garcia. “If we can encourage more students to get vaccinated and help make education just a little more affordable for these scholarship winners, it’s a win-win.”

Brittany Morris Saunders, Amazon’s Denver Senior Manager of External Affairs, added “We are so glad we could partner with CCCS and support their effort to get more students across Colorado vaccinated. As a company, we’ve made it a commitment to expand access to COVID-19 education, testing, and vaccinations. This program is helping protect the public health in Colorado, while providing students with financial support as they pursue their education.”

 

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About CCCS
The Colorado Community College System (CCCS) is the state’s largest system of higher education and workforce development, delivering thousands of programs to over 125,000 students annually through 13 colleges and 35 locations across Colorado. The System’s open-access mission ensures all Coloradans who aspire to enrich their lives have access to high quality, affordable higher education opportunities. The System Office provides leadership, advocacy, and support to the colleges under the direction of the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education (SBCCOE). Join us in changing the way Colorado goes to college www.cccs.edu.

About the Foundation for Colorado Community Colleges
Founded in 1987, the Foundation for Colorado Community Colleges advances the mission, vision, goals, and objectives of the Colorado Community College System. Specifically, the Foundation actively seeks contributions from public and private sources to make scholarships available statewide, advance key programmatic initiatives, provide training and support for CCCS college foundations, and develop partnerships to implement state of the art programs that meet the workforce needs of the 21st century.

About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.