Scholarship
2025 Scholarships
Dr. Karin Duran Memorial Youth Scholarship: This scholarship is open to all high school graduating Latinas in the San Fernando Valley. Application details are listed below.
Dr. Karin Durán Memorial Youth Scholarship
The Dr. Karin Durán Memorial Youth Scholarship provides college scholarships to high-achieving Latina high school students from the San Fernando Valley.
Dr. Durán was a founding member of Comisión Femenil of the San Fernando Valley. Dedicating more than 25 years to supporting the academic growth of her students, she single-handedly organized Comisión Femenil's annual scholarship. From 1992 until her untimely passing in 2010, she contributed her own private funds to support our scholarship program. In the Spring of 2011, we honored our comadre by renaming our scholarship program to the "Dr. Karin Durán Memorial Youth Scholarship" as a tribute to her legacy.
She will always be remembered for her unwavering dedication to her students, her outstanding commitment to service her community, and her compassion toward all who sought her guidance.
As of 2024, the Dr. Karin Duran Youth Memorial Scholarship has awarded over $76,000 to over 140 young Latina scholars. Scholarships are in the amount of $2,000 each.
APPLICATION AVAILABILITY: JANUARY 31, 2025
DEADLINE April 4, 2025
The 2025 Scholarship Application will be available on January 31, 2025. Each applicant should follow the guidelines below to ensure all documentation is submitted by the Due Date, Friday, April 4 at 5:00pm. Only complete applications will be reviewed and considered.
APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY
Be female of Latina heritage from the San Fernando Valley
Be a graduating senior from a high school in the San Fernando Valley
Be attending a two-year or four-year college or university for FALL 2025
Have a minimum 2.5 unweighted cumulative GPA
Complete applications include:
Complete online Scholarship Application
Two essay prompts (included in the scholarship application):
400 words maximum for each prompt
size 12 font
Official electronic high school transcript scanned and emailed to scholarship@comisionfemenil.org from the High School counselor’s work email.
One Comisión Femenil online Recommendation Form completed by an academic or professional reference.
The Scholarship Selection Committee is looking for applicants who demonstrate the following:
Balance of school, family, employment and/or community involvement
Financial need
Essay-clarity, originality of ideas and good writing skills
Leadership abilities
NOTE: Finalists will be required to participate in a 10 min. panel interview via Zoom on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 between 6-8pm in order to be considered for this scholarship. Finalists will be contacted by May 8, 2025 to schedule their interview time.
For more information, contact us at scholarship@comisionfemenil.org.
SCHOLARSHIP TIPS
Give yourself enough time to prepare the scholarship application.
Find out how and where you need to get electronic Official Transcripts.
Select a Recommender that can speak on your leadership abilities, community involvement, circumstances that may affect your college success and your motivation to go to college.
It is recommended to type essays into Microsoft word document and copy and paste into scholarship application.
Revise your scholarship essay, and ask a teacher and/or counselor, etc. to review it.