The Gulf Coast Community Foundation recently announced 461 scholarship awards totaling $537,719 for the upcoming school year. More than $215,000 was awarded from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation Scholarship Fund, an endowment established by the foundation’s board in 1997 to help local students pursue meaningful higher education. A total of 188 students received the Gulf Coast Scholarship this year, with awards ranging from $1,000 to $3,000. The remainder of the scholarship funding comes from more than 50 different scholarship funds established by donors and administered by the foundation on their behalf. Many of these scholarships support students pursuing specific fields of study, such as healthcare, vocational training, business, or the arts, while others focus on students from particular communities or schools. Since 1997, the foundation and its donors have invested more than $8 million in deserving students through scholarships.