Excelencia/Excellence Scholars Program
UCLA’s Excelencia Scholarship empowers top Latino/a and low-income students with vital financial aid and holistic support, advancing the mission to become the first-choice destination for high-achieving Latino/a undergraduate student.
Mission
UCLA’s top Latino/a and low-income student admits are among the most academically talented students in the country – many are drawn to other institutions that offer more generous financial aid. To become a federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), UCLA must invest in high-achieving students with the greatest need. The Excelencia/Excellence Scholarship Program meets this need by offering competitive financial aid packages alongside culturally responsive, cohort-based support
In 2024, a $1.5 million gift enabled UCLA’s HSI initiative to collaborate with the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships, the Academic Advancement Program (AAP), the Center for Community College Partnership (CCCP), and the UCLA Latino Alumni Association (ULAA) to provide holistic financial, academic, and personal support to 200 Excelencia Scholars. These renewable scholarships – $10,000 over four years for freshmen and $5,000 over two years for transfer students — are already making a powerful impact. The first cohort of 99 scholars enrolled in Fall 2024, and 101 more will join in Fall 2025.
Scholars
The inaugural cohort is both academically accomplished and demographically diverse, including 57 Latino/a, 15 White, 15 Asian, 7 Black/African-American, 2 Native American, 1 unidentified student – all demonstrating significant financial need. The program prioritized outreach to students from ten Los Angeles high schools where UCLA School of Education faculty are deeply engaged (38 students), and to transfer students (59 students) from 21 community colleges affiliated with the Center for Community College Partnerships.
Financial Impact
Holistic Support
More than a scholarship, Excelencia is a comprehensive program designed to foster the brilliance and potential of these students, ensuring they thrive at UCLA. Scholars benefit from CCCPs’ end-of-summer orientation and AAP’s Freshmen & Transfer Summer Program, followed by year-round support through CCCP’s HSI Retention Coordinator, AAP’s HSI academic advisors and peer mentors, and ULAA’s Orgulloso Mentorship Program. As a testament to this program’s early success, all scholars completed their first quarter in good academic standing, with GPAs above 2.9, and all but one student remained continuously enrolled.
Excelencia Partnership Schools
- Augustus Hawkins HS
- Contreras Learning Center
- Dr. Maya Angelou Community High
- Edward R. Roybal HS
- Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez HS
- Horace Mann UCLA Community School
- Santee Education Complex
- Theodore Roosevelt Senior High
- UCLA Community School
- West Adams Preparatory High
Center for Community College Partnership (CCCP)
- Antelope Valley College
- Los Angeles Pierce College
- Citrus College
- Los Angeles Trade Tech
- Compton Community College
- Los Angeles Valley College
- Cerritos College
- Los Angeles Mission
- College Of The Canyon
- Los Angeles Southwest
- East Los Angeles College
- Mt. San Antonio College
- El Camino College
- Pasadena City College
- Glendale Community College
- Rio Hondo College
- Long Beach City College
- Santa Monica College
- Los Angeles City College
- West Los Angeles College
- Los Angeles Harbor College