AUSTIN, Texas — CFP Foundation is donating $1 million to the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin to establish a Subiendo Endowed Scholarship for Rising Leaders. The scholarship will provide full tuition including room and board to college students who have participated in Subiendo and are accepted into the McCombs School of Business.
Now in its seventh year, Subiendo has welcomed approximately 450 high school seniors, 96 percent of whom have completed or are pursuing a higher education degree. Subiendo: The Academy for Rising Leaders is a weeklong, free of charge leadership program that serves more than 80 economically disadvantaged high school students from across Texas who are entering their senior year of high school. Students who participate in the program display leadership qualities in their high schools, and nearly all participants are in the top quarter of their high school class.
“Regardless of each student’s natural academic potential, many of these students still face enormous challenges in achieving college success — most notably, financial barriers,” said Leticia Acosta, director of Subiendo. “This scholarship opportunity will open doors for students who may not have perceived the college of their dreams as a possibility, and it’s not because the talent wasn’t there. I have no doubt that this gift from CFP Foundation is going to make a big impact in many students’ lives.”
“The goal is to increase awareness around this scholarship in the hopes of raising more funding so that we can provide a full-ride scholarship to a new student every year, rather than every other year,” said Acosta.
A scholarship recipient will be chosen every other year, and each scholarship will support the student through four years of college.
The inaugural recipient is Zayda Lopez of Dallas. She participated in Subiendo in 2015. Lopez plans to double major in finance and accounting.
“As a first generation college student, this scholarship is a dream come true,” said Lopez. “I have the opportunity to not only one day receive my college degree, but also receive it from a spectacular university that will undoubtedly foster my growth as a business leader.”
The donation was made on behalf of CFP Foundation’s founding trustees, Gary Crum, MBA ’72, and his wife, Sylvie Crum, BA ’74.
“It is clear that college graduates from diverse backgrounds are increasingly playing a larger part in the leadership and management of our state — graduates are earning positions of prominence in our corporations, towns, cities and state governments,” Gary Crum said. “Subiendo Academy has been involved in identifying and educating the next generation of leaders at the Texas high school level for the past six years. The Subiendo Endowed Scholarship for Rising Leaders at The University of Texas at Austin was created to further the education of tomorrow’s leaders in Texas.”
