Wells Fargo Expands National Hispanic Scholarship Fund.

The Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF), the nation’s leading organization supporting Hispanic higher education, in conjunction with Wells Fargo and Telemundo, announced the expansion of a national promotion that awards college scholarships to Latino students in nine U.S. cities.

The promotion, launched by Wells Fargo in Fall 2002 as a pilot program in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, has been expanded to Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Albuquerque, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.

Through the expansion of the program, an additional 117 Latino students from those cities have been selected as HSF/Wells Fargo/Telemundo Scholars and will receive a $1,000 college scholarship. To date, the program has awarded a total of $249,000 in scholarships. Additionally, Wells Fargo has awarded a $150,000 corporate grant to HSF to provide scholarships for Latino students studying finance with a career interest in banking. This grant brings the company’s total contributions to HSF to more than $415,000.

As part of the national promotion and efforts by HSF to highlight the stories of its scholars to inspire and encourage other Latino students to go to college, one scholar will be featured each week during local Telemundo newscasts across all nine cities through June 16, 2003.

“This innovative collaboration helps finance a college education for Latino students across the U.S., as well as provides a way to tell their stories to encourage other students and families to see college as an affordable reality,” said Sara Martinez Tucker, president and chief executive officer of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.

“Wells Fargo is truly impressed with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund’s mission to double the rate of Latinos earning a college degree to 18 percent by 2010,” said Dick Kovacevich, chairman and chief executive officer of Wells Fargo. “We are proud to partner with such a committed organization and delighted to support educational opportunities for Latinos.”

About the Hispanic Scholarship Fund
The Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) is the nation’s leading organization supporting Hispanic higher education. Founded in 1975, HSF’s vision is to strengthen the country by advancing college education among Hispanic Americans, the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population. In support of its mission to double the rate of Hispanics earning college degrees, HSF, a 501(c)3 not-for profit organization, provides the Latino community more college scholarships and educational outreach support than any other organization in the country. Headquartered in San Francisco, HSF has opened regional offices in Southern and Central California, the Northeast, the Southeast, the Midwest and Texas. During its 28-year history, HSF has awarded nearly 54,000 scholarships in excess of $89 million to Latinos from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands who have attended more than 1,300 colleges and universities.