Student scholarships

Our Scholarship Program helps students with financial need through scholarships and other activities designed to increase their academic achievement, leadership skills, and community values.

About 100 young students in high school and university are selected each year according to their academic achievement and financial need. We want to support Mexican students who enroll in high school and/or college to finish their degrees by providing scholarships directly to the students when they need it most.

In addition to economic support, our Scholars receive mentoring support.

Our program has a high retention rate. Ninety-seven percent (97%) of our scholarship recipients stay in school with average grades of 8.5 to 10.

Fifty percent (50%) of our Scholars are from rural areas around San Miguel de Allende.

The majority of our scholarship recipients are the first in their family to graduate from college.

Biblioteca Scholarship Amounts

Annual scholarship at High School level $4,400 pesos

Annual scholarship at University level $8,800 pesos

Get to know some of our students

GIFT A FULL-YEAR SCHOLARSHIP

Do you believe in the transformative power of education? Invest in our community by supporting the educational aspirations of students in San Miguel de Allende and Comonfort

Under 20% of college students in the state of Guanajuato finish their degrees. The pandemic had a major impact on education in our state — Guanajuato ranks among the top four states with the most school dropouts in Mexico during the pandemic. 5 out of 10 high school students in the state of Guanajuato left school during the pandemic.

The Scholarship Program at the Biblioteca encourages and supports highly motivated students with limited resources to attain their higher education degrees. We know that a diploma can change a life. With this financial support, our scholars can better plan their future, achieve more qualified jobs and higher incomes, and sustain their families and community. Join us by pledging to our Scholarship Program today.

Are you a student? Get to know the requirements and important dates.

Minimum Requirements to apply:

Be enrolled in Bachillerato/Preparatoria or University (Bachelor’s degree).
Have as your permanent residence the Municipio of San Miguel de Allende or Comonfort. Those applicants who reside at the location of their university need only provide proof of address of their family that resides in San Miguel de Allende or Comonfort.
Have a grade average of 8.5 or better.

*While not a requirement, the Library is particularly looking for students who are the first in their family to graduate from Preparatoria or University.

Steps in the selection of new recipients

Request the application at becas@labibiotecapublica.org. In your email indicate clearly if you are enrolled in Preparatoria or University.
Fill out the application form and provide all the required documents.
Evaluation of the applications by the Scholarship Committee
Individual interviews of selected students
Final selection of scholarship students.
Signing of the scholarship agreement and Orientation.

IMPORTANT DATES

The next application cycle is OPEN TO PREPARATORIA STUDENTS ONLY.

The next cycle of scholarship applications opens December 21, 2022 with a deadline of January 28, 2023. The 2023 application cycle is only open to Preparatoria students. This website will be updated with additional information when the Application cycle opens.

New university scholarships will resume in 2024.

Scholarship Committee

The Scholarship Committee is a working committee composed of volunteers who believe in the transformative power of education, support the educational goals of our Scholars program and wish to take action to keep our Scholarship program running.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Scholarship Committee, please contact the Scholarship Program Coordinator, Dr. Cristina Serna at: becas@labibliotecapublica.org

Ideal members of the committee are those:

Passionate about educational access and making education available to young people in San Miguel de Allende & neighboring communities.
Have some experience in education and/or with mentoring and advising youth.
Capable of guiding a selected student who needs orientation and support.
Being bilingual and bicultural is preferable.
Knowledge of the Mexican education system is a major advantage.

Ideally, members of the Scholarship Committee are able to provide an average of 8 hours of time as a volunteer each month. This could be through:

Participating in the monthly Zoom meetings that usually take place on the fourth Thursday of the month from 10 to 11am (meetings are virtual for the time being)
As an interviewer of new scholarship applicants (Having cultural competency and being Spanish speaking is important)
Helping to process scholarship applications
As a mentor or advisor for one of our Scholars when needed (Having cultural competency and being Spanish speaking is important)
As a principal organizer of a short term-project or event
Data collection, gathering information to help improve programs or other useful support to the Scholarship coordinator
Writing a news article for Atención newspaper covering the most important aspects of the Scholarship program
Community outreach to increase visibility of our Scholarship Program