Simon Foundations, in Partnership With Horatio Alger Association, to Award More Than $20 Million in Scholarships to Simon Scholars

NEWPORT BEACH, CA--(Marketwired - Aug 6, 2014) - The Simon Foundations, nonprofit organizations that support the Simon Scholars Program (www.simonscholars.org) and enable deserving American students from difficult life and economic circumstances to achieve their dreams of independence and self-sufficiency through education, and Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc., a nonprofit educational organization honoring the achievements of outstanding individuals and encouraging youth to pursue their dreams through higher education, today announced a new partnership, which will award more than $20 million in scholarships to Simon Scholars over the next 10 years. With shared missions of supporting economically disadvantaged youth who demonstrate a commitment to furthering their education despite facing adversity, these nonprofit organizations have formed a strategic alliance to afford even greater opportunities to deserving Simon Scholars in pursuit of the American dream.

Selected through a rigorous admission process, Simon Scholars are identified and chosen in high school to receive financial support and life skills training throughout their junior and senior years of high school, and upon graduation, receive further assistance as they matriculate to college. Now, as a result of this newly formed alliance with Horatio Alger Association, Simon Scholars who complete the high school program will also immediately become Horatio Alger Scholars, receiving college scholarships through the Association. Additionally, these Scholars will be afforded access to Horatio Alger Association's Collegiate Partners Program, Campus Crest Housing Program, additional proprietary scholarship programs, mentoring and internship opportunities.

"As the son of immigrant parents, I have always understood the power of the American dream and through hard work and determination, I have had the opportunity to achieve it," said Ronald M. Simon, founder of the Simon Foundations, member of the Horatio Alger Association Class of 2005 and a highly respected and successful Orange County business entrepreneur and visionary. "When my children and I began the Simon Scholars Program, we wanted to help students who faced great challenges, just as I did, to see how they could also achieve that same dream through higher education. Now, in strategic partnership with Horatio Alger Association, of which I am a proud member and which serves to sustain the American Dream for generations to come, we can expand the Simon Scholars Program to serve even more deserving students and enhance the prestige of both scholarship programs."

The Simon Foundations have accepted 850 students to date into the Simon Scholars Program awarding scholarships valued at $25 million. The program continues to grow with the annual acceptance of approximately 125 new students who are selected from the most challenging life and economic circumstances and prepared for success -- in college and beyond -- with college preparatory mentoring, life skills and leadership training, team building activities, SAT/ACT workshops and more. The Simon Scholars Program boasts one of the highest college graduation rates in the country with nearly 90 percent of the Simon Scholars who enter college achieving their degree.

"Horatio Alger Association is proud to partner with the Simon Foundations, and specifically its Simon Scholars Program, to help offer this six-year scholarship initiative that aims to ensure educational success and guidance for selected students through both high school and college," said David L. Sokol, chairman of the Horatio Alger Association. "Our organizations share an abiding commitment to identifying tomorrow's leaders and we strongly believe that hard work, honesty and determination can conquer all obstacles. Our hope is to encourage others who share that same belief to contribute to the expansion of the Simon Scholars Program through this new strategic alliance with Horatio Alger Association."

Since the establishment of Horatio Alger Association's scholarship programs in 1984, the organization has awarded more than $100 million in undergraduate, graduate and specialized scholarships to students from across the United States, including all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and Canada. The Horatio Alger National Scholarship Program is one of the largest privately-funded, need-based financial aid programs in North America, and in 2014 alone, the Association awarded more than $9 million in need-based scholarships to 921 deserving students, who, in the face of great adversity, have exhibited an admirable commitment to continuing their education and serving their communities.

For more information about the Simon Scholars Program, please visit www.simonscholars.org. For further information about Horatio Alger Association and its national and state scholarship programs, please visit www.horatioalger.org. 

ABOUT HORATIO ALGER ASSOCIATION OF DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS
Founded in 1947, Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc. fulfills its mission of honoring the achievements of outstanding individuals who have succeeded in spite of adversity and of encouraging young people to pursue their dreams through higher education. Horatio Alger Association supports various undergraduate and graduate scholarship programs and, since 1984, the Association has awarded more than $100 million in college scholarships to deserving young people. For more information, please visit www.horatioalger.org.

ABOUT THE SIMON FOUNDATIONS
The Simon Foundations include: The Simon Foundation for Education and Housing, the Simon Charitable Foundation and the Simon Family Foundation. Founded in 2003 by Ronald M. Simon and his children, the Simon Foundations sponsor the Simon Scholars Program. With 125 new high school Simon Scholars Program scholarships awarded in 2014, the Foundations have awarded more than 850 scholarships valued in excess of $25 million. The Simon Scholars Program currently operates in selected high schools in Atlanta, GA; Orange and San Diego counties in southern CA; Santa Fe and Albuquerque, NM; and Washington, D.C. Details of the Simon Scholars Program can be found at www.simonscholars.org.