WASHINGTON, DC --The Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF), the primary national organization solely devoted to providing scholarships for Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (APIAs), recently announced the recipients of its 2007 scholarship program.  APIASF is awarding $400,000 in scholarships to 200 students during this scholarship cycle, the organization’s third.  When this year’s scholarship monies are disbursed later this summer, the total dollar amount distributed by APIASF since its inception in 2003 will be more than one million dollars. 

All of the scholarship recipients will be freshmen this fall and will enter an accredited college/university or vocational school.  The recipients represent 37 of the 50 U.S. states and the Federated States of Micronesia.   More than 1,500 students applied for this year’s scholarships and included students from a diverse range of Asian and Pacific Islander American communities such as Asian Indian, Bangladeshi, Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Guamanian, Hawaiian, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Samoan, Taiwanese and Vietnamese. More than 70 percent of the recipients were women, and more than 28 percent of the awardees were from ethnic groups that – according to the U.S. Census Bureau – have lower college graduation rates than the overall population.

This year’s scholarship recipients plan to pursue various fields of study with medical-related fields high on the list.  The top 10 majors identified by this year’s recipients (in order of popularity) are: pharmacy, medicine, engineering, business/management, biology, psychology, biochemistry, nursing, political science and music. 

 “APIASF is pleased to continue our mission and vision for the third year—to see that as many APIAs as possible have the opportunity to pursue their dreams of a higher education, “ said Wai-Ling Eng, APIASF Chairman and a McDonald’s owner/operator. “The majority of our scholarship recipients are underserved and might not be able to attend college without some type of financial support.”

Ted Y. Mashima, APIASF President and Executive Director, said, “APIASF is extremely proud of all our scholarship winners. The selection committee had the very difficult task of narrowing down the applicants to the final list of recipients.  I had the pleasure of meeting many of our scholarship winners this week. They are bright, hard-working leaders who are very involved in their communities.  We wish all of our scholars continued success in all their endeavors.” 

The Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF) is based in Washington, DC, and is the country’s largest non-profit organization devoted solely to providing scholarships for Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.   APIASF is also the administrator of the Gates Millennium Scholars/APIA, which provides outstanding low-income Asian and Pacific Islander American students with an opportunity to complete an undergraduate college education in any discipline they choose.  Supporters of APIASF include members of the general public and a wide spectrum of community and professional leaders, organizations and corporations.  Corporate supporters include, but are not limited to, AT&T, Abercrombie & Fitch, The Boston Consulting Group, McDonald’s USA, The Coca-Cola Company, Nationwide, Sodexho, Wachovia, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Wells Fargo.  For more information about APIASF's mission and program, please visit our website at: www.apiasf.org.