Our History

In 2006, Scholarship Chicago celebrated its 10th Anniversary.  Over the last ten years,  the organization's history has been marked primarily by growth and expansion, having nearly tripled in size over that period.

The origins of Scholarship Chicago begin with the Chicago Scholars Foundation, an organization originally created to provide a yearly $1000 scholarship to one student from every public, private and parochial high school in Chicago.  Over time, the success of the Chicago Scholars Foundation caught the eye of the Chicagoland Scholarship Fund, an organization dedicated to assisting young Hispanic students achieve their dream of a college education.   In 2002, those two organizations merged and Scholarship Chicago was officially created.  At that time, Scholarship Chicago's primary program was still the Chicago Scholar $1000 award, but that was soon to change.

In 2005, Scholarship Chicago caught wind of an innovative scholarship organization operating on the North Shore called College Bound.  Founded in 1996 by a group of old high school friends, College Bound was changing the shape of scholarships by shifting to a program based forum, where students still received monetary awards but the primary focus was on 5 years of workshops, personal mentoring, and career networking.  In a fortunate turn of events, both Scholarship Chicago and College Bound were looking to grow, and each saw in the other an opportunity to build a critical mass, strengthen programs, and streamline administrative costs.  So, in 2005 the two organizations merged and the current incarnation of Scholarship Chicago was born.

Over its combined history, Scholarship Chicago has invested nearly 2 million dollars in financial aid and college preparatory programming for Chicago’s youth. By maintaining the visions of the Chicago Scholars Foundation, the Chicagoland Scholarship Fund, the Give Back Foundation and College Bound, Scholarship Chicago continues to celebrate the triumphs of education in every high school in Chicago while offering intensive support to a growing roster of outstanding individuals.

 SCHOLARSHIP CHICAGO HISTORICAL FLOW CHART