PG&E to give $100,000 to Central Coast community colleges as part of student scholarship expansion

CENTRAL COAST, Calif. – Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and the PG&E Corporation Foundation are expanding PG&E's Better Together: Investing in California's Youth initiative by funding $50,000 to Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria and $50,000 to the Cuesta College Foundation in San Luis Obispo.

The Better Together program will now include additional financial support for more programs throughout California that are aimed at helping students pursue higher education, according to PG&E representative Carina Corral.

The funding going towards Allan Hancock will benefit the Hancock Promise program, which provides local high school graduates with a year of free tuition at the college.

“We are very thankful to PG&E for their ongoing and generous support of the Hancock Promise,” said Hancock Superintendent/President Kevin G. Walthers. “Their commitment will ensure that thousands of students in Northern Santa Barbara County continue to benefit from this transformative program.”

The funding going to Cuesta will benefit the Cuesta College Foundation for Promise Initiative, which is a scholarship program open to all high school graduates in San Luis Obispo County that provides all local high school graduates who attend Cuesta two consecutive years of fee-free tuition immediately upon high school graduation.

“We’re proud to be able to support students through both the Cuesta College Foundation for Promise Initiative and the Hancock Promise. By investing in education today, through scholarships and career readiness preparation, we are helping Central Coast students to aim high and reach goals they may not have thought were attainable," PG&E’s South Bay/Central Coast Regional Vice President Teresa Alvarado said.

"Through their academic and career achievements, they are strengthening our hometowns — in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties — as well as California’s economy.”

The Better Together: Investing in California's Youth initiative focuses on providing students opportunities through mentorship, internship, scholarship, and career development.