DuPage County names 2025 scholarship winners

DuPage County awarded scholarships totaling $54,000 to 10 residents through its Community Services Block Grant Scholarship program this fall.

Individual awards range from $2,000 to $8,500. Recipients were awarded based on financial need, academic achievement, community/school involvement, and interest in high-demand employment sectors.

“These candidates demonstrated inspiring traits and achievements while persevering through significant life experiences, including first-generation college students and single mothers returning to school," said DuPage County Human Services Committee Vice Chair Paula Deacon Garcia, who served on the selection committee. “We believe these scholarships will enable these students to capitalize on their opportunities and achieve their goals.”

The CSBG scholarship supplements the cost of tuition, books, supplies, and other school expenses. The scholarship is funded and designed in cooperation with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for low-income individuals with high academic potential.

Recipients include students who are the first in their families to attend college, single mothers returning to earn their degree, and recent high school graduates.

“This has been a huge weight lifted off my shoulders,” wrote Samantha Gonzalez, a Warrenville veteran who is studying aviation flight technology at Lewis University with a long-term goal of making airline travel safer. “Pursuing an education has shaped my character and has given me a broader understanding of the world.”

Recent Downers Grove high school graduate Kayden Smith, who is studying health sciences at North Central College, noted: “This scholarship will help me achieve my dream … I am determined to further my education by taking challenging courses to make a positive impact on my community.”

Several recipients noted that the scholarship will benefit not only them personally but the wider community in the long-term.

“Education has always been a guiding light of hope in my life’s path,” wrote Francesca Mosley, a Naperville woman studying to be a certified paralegal assistant. “I do not view this scholarship solely as just an investment in me, but it is an investment that will be utilized indirectly to pour back into the community I plan to serve with it.”

For a complete list of scholarship recipients and their stories, visit tinyurl.com/DUPCSBG.