East Bay College Fund is a community-based non-profit organization that provides substantial scholarships, mentoring, on-going college counseling and life skills training to East Bay (primarily Oakland) public high school students from low income families and communities with historically low college attendance rates.East Bay College Fund was formed in 2002 by a committed group of East Bay citizens, educators, and community activists, and is modeled after the highly successful San Francisco-based Meritus College Fund.

Since its inception, East Bay College Fund has awarded 150 $16,000 four-year Great Expectations scholarships with mentoring support to Oakland and Emeryville public high school students.   In 2003, our inaugural year, East Bay College Fund awarded seven scholarships. We have consistently increased the number of awards annually with our highest number yet, 30 Great Expectations Awards granted in 2011.

Grass roots efforts and contributions from a wide variety of individuals and foundations continue to grow, enabling East Bay College Fund to support over 70 continuing scholars and grant 25-30 additional awards annually.  We are proud to have 42 scholars who have graduated from college, many of whom have committed to support East Bay College Fund or to give back to the Oakland community.

East Bay College Fund recognizes the importance of collaborating with other organizations focused on helping youth pursue their educational goals. East Bay College Fund is proud to have working relationships with Summer Search, Faces for the Future, Upward Bound, College Track, Girls Inc and American Indian Child Resource Center.

East Bay College Fund is a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt organization.