BASIC Scholarships
Our Record
BASIC has awarded a scholarship every single year since 1998. This is where the program came from, what it has done, and who pays for it.
The past
How BASIC’s Scholarship Program Began
It began at the airport. A group formed to improve the Borrego Springs airport found itself turning its attention to the community’s students, and two years later it changed its name to say so.
1993
Borrego Springs Airport Improvement Association
Known as BSAIC.
1995
Basic Assistance to Students In the Community
The same organization, renamed BASIC for what it had become.
1998
The First Scholarships
Three awards, totaling $8,570.
Basic Assistance to Students In the Community
The evidence
How Have We Done?
Twenty-nine school years, every award and every dollar. Three awards in the first year; fifty-one in the most recent one.
| School Year | Awards | Awarded |
|---|---|---|
| 1998–1999 | 3 | $8,570 |
| 1999–2000 | 11 | $12,100 |
| 2000–2001 | 12 | $20,200 |
| 2001–2002 | 11 | $9,400 |
| 2002–2003 | 11 | $14,350 |
| 2003–2004 | 8 | $11,500 |
| 2004–2005 | 8 | $10,000 |
| 2005–2006 | 2 | $8,000 |
| 2006–2007 | 3 | $8,000 |
| 2007–2008 | 8 | $19,500 |
| 2008–2009 | 13 | $19,000 |
| 2009–2010 | 12 | $13,250 |
| 2010–2011 | 27 | $20,000 |
| 2011–2012 | 21 | $16,840 |
| 2012–2013 | 23 | $15,800 |
| 2013–2014 | 17 | $19,900 |
| 2014–2015 | 27 | $27,600 |
| 2015–2016 | 30 | $38,900 |
| 2016–2017 | 24 | $29,400 |
| 2017–2018 | 27 | $31,500 |
| 2018–2019 | 39 | $60,550 |
| 2019–2020 | 31 | $55,500 |
| 2020–2021 | 42 | $72,825 |
| 2021–2022 | 33 | $75,600 |
| 2022–2023 | 31 | $50,250 |
| 2023–2024 | 34 | $65,450 |
| 2024–2025 | 45 | $86,900 |
| 2025–2026 | 46 | $86,901 |
| 2026–2027 | 51 | $139,600 |
| Total | 650 | $1,047,386 |
Where they study
Where the Scholarships Are Being Used
Most scholars study in California — CSU campuses such as CSU San Marcos, UC campuses including Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara, and San Francisco State. Palomar College has taken over from College of the Desert as the two-year school our scholars most often attend, and several are in certificate programs rather than degrees.
Others have gone a good deal further: Montana, Ohio, Texas, and a medical school in Mexico.
The future
Where Does the Money Come From?
You. There is no endowment behind these awards and no outside funder. Every dollar is raised in Borrego Springs, every year.
The Future Is in Your Hands
BASIC has now awarded over $1 million in scholarships — built entirely out of this community’s giving, one school year at a time.