Mi Pueblo Food Center is honored to support the dreams of hardworking, highly motivated graduating high school seniors in the communities we serve. Together, thanks to the support of our kind and generous customers, employees, vendors and friends, we will be awarding college scholarships to many deserving students who are working very hard to make their dreams come true. We invite all students who meet our eligibility requirements to read these instructions carefully and submit their application.

STARS Online Application Process  
The Mi Pueblo Scholarship program has gone green and is now a paperless process! Thanks to STARS scholarship management software we implemented this year Mi Pueblo is helping reduce paper waste in our environment while allowing students to access and edit  their Mi Pueblo scholarship application from any computer at any time. 

Please read this page in its entirety prior to beginning the application process.




  
                                                        APPLICATION DEADLINE: JUNE 30th, 2012

Important computer requirements:

• Use Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher (Version 7.0 is preferred), Firefox or Safari.
  
• Allow pop-ups on your computer.
  
• Enable cookies on your system.
  
• The first time you enter the STARS Online system, click “START HERE” to create your account.
• After your initial registration, you will use your “User Name” and “Password” to log into
  
• STARS Online. Keep a record of your password so you can edit any previously entered information.

Before You Start - Each application must include each of the following:
Email Address: You must provide a valid email address. All scholarship award letters and other important communications regarding scholarships will be sent via email.
Unofficial High School Transcript: You will be required to provide an unofficial high school transcript. However, if you are selected as a scholarship recipient, you will have to send an official high school transcript to be able to claim your award.
Letters of recommendation: Please use the online STARS to request a letter of recommendation. The system will provide a temporary password for your recommender so that he or she can submit the documents on time.
Essay Questions: You will be asked to answer essay question(s). We highly recommend that you complete your work in Microsoft Word or a comparable program, then copy and paste your answer into the box provided. The online application does not notify you of grammatical or spelling errors.
A Note About Supporting Documents: All documents must be uploaded as Microsoft Word (saved with the .doc extension only) or .pdf files. Other file formats will not be recognized by STARS. Transcripts should be uploaded as one document.
You may “Save and Exit” STARS Online at any time. Enter your User Name and Password to log back into the system. You may make changes to your application until the scholarship deadline.

By submitting this online scholarship application, you are certifying that all information you have provided is true and complete to the best of your knowledge. You are also authorizing the release of information on this application and other necessary financial and academicinformation to the Mi Pueblo Scholarship Program.            

                                                                          2012 – 2013 SCHOLARSHIP GUIDELINES
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Scholarship applicant must:

• Be a graduating high school senior.
  
• Live in one of following counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Merced, Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Stanislaus, Solano, Vallejo,  and San Joaquin.

• Demonstrate strong educational motivation and commitment to compete on a collegiate level.
• Have earned a minimum 3.00 cumulative grade point average.
  
• Demonstrate community service efforts.
  
• Demonstrate financial need.
  

APPLICATION CHECK LIST
Applications missing any of the following will be disqualified. We will not accept separate documents.

• Completed online application.
  
• 3 essays
  
• Official high school transcript. If you have taken any college courses, include transcripts of your work.
  
• Two letters of recommendation.
  
• Completed application must submitted by June 30th, 2012.
  

AWARDS

• Scholarship winners will be notified by e-mail, mail, and/or by phone by the end of July, 2012.
  
• The amount of each scholarship award will vary based on academic achievement and will be between $500 – $2,500.
  
• Scholarship winners must attend the Mi Pueblo Scholarship Award Ceremony which is currently scheduled to occur between August 9th and 18th, 2012. Please know that your assistance is mandatory, otherwise your award will be relocated to other applicants.
• If awarded a scholarship, the student must enroll as a full-time student at a 2-year or 4-year institution.
  
• Proof of enrollment is required to release the awarded scholarship funds to the institution.
  

                          PLEASE NOTE: INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED
SCHOLARSHIP RULES
Students awarded a Mi Pueblo Foods scholarship must comply with the following rules.

• Scholarships are awarded for the Fall of 2012 only. Scholarship checks will be made out to the student’s selected institution and will be mailed out to the institution’s financial aid office or the student’s home address within 30 days of receipt of proof of student’s full-time enrollment.
  
• If a student is awarded a scholarship but is unable to begin college in the Fall of 2012 for any reason, the student must notify Mi Pueblo Foods at scholarships@mipueblofoods.com on or before September 30th, 2012 to request anextension. Extensions provide students up to one calendar year to claim the scholarship.Unclaimed scholarships will be reallocated to other scholarship opportunities, as determined by Mi Pueblo Foods in its sole discretion.
  

Who can I contact if I have questions? If you have any questions, please contact Iván Hernández at (408) 928 –1171 or scholarships@mipueblofoods.com

Apply for a 2012 Mi Pueblo Community Scholarship with STARS Online HERE