Five Reasons to Give to Our Community Colleges
1. Maximize Your Impact
Your charitable giving goes further at community colleges, where even modest gifts create meaningful change. At many four-year universities, a small donation can feel like a drop in the bucket, but within our District it can become a life-changing gift for students.
In 2025, Mike Hahn and his family chose to support College of San Mateo rather than his alma mater because, as Mike explains, “Stanford and Cornell have massive endowments. My money would get lost there. But here, even a small donation can make a real mark.”
2. Expanding Access to Education
Your generosity removes barriers to college for students in our community.
Community colleges are often the most affordable entry point to higher education, and your support goes directly to the students who need it most like first-generation, low-income, and nontraditional learners. Scholarships and emergency aid funded by donors like you open doors that might otherwise stay closed.
The number one reason students drop out of college is financial. Many are working long hours while trying to keep up with classes. Nontraditional students—parents, full-time workers, and those reskilling after a job loss or career change—face especially intense pressures. With your help, they can stay enrolled, access local resources, and stay on track.
By supporting a student scholarship, you can be the deciding factor between a student leaving college and a student crossing the graduation stage.
3. Powering Our Region’s Workforce
Your support helps prepare the skilled professionals our region urgently needs.
As the Bay Area economy continues to grow, more people must earn college degrees, workforce certificates, industry certifications, and other high-quality credentials. With your partnership, the San Mateo County Community College District is educating the next generation of nurses, teachers, technicians, and other essential professionals.
When local students study close to home, they can tap into internships, apprenticeships, and professional opportunities right here in our community. Your gifts strengthen programs that are aligned with local industry needs, so graduates are truly job-ready on day one.
By investing in our colleges, you are investing in the economic vitality of your own community and in the success of the neighbors, families, and employers who depend on a strong local workforce.
4. Building a Community Legacy
Your support strengthens the place you call home.
Community colleges are invaluable precisely because they are rooted in the community. Our colleges are local treasures that help create thriving neighborhoods far beyond the critical role we play in higher education. With your generosity, the San Mateo County Community College District can: offer local summer camps for K–12 students, provide ESL classes for immigrant community members, operate grocery distribution centers for families in need, and more. When you give to our colleges, you’re not just supporting students; you’re investing in the well-being, opportunity, and future of the entire community.
5. Enhancing Student Success Beyond Tuition
Your generosity does far more than help students pay for classes: it helps them stay in college and succeed.
Many students are balancing school with work, family responsibilities, and financial stress. Even the most determined student can struggle to stay on track without support beyond tuition. That’s where you come in.
Your gifts help provide:
- Tutoring and academic support that gives students confidence and skills to pass challenging courses
- Counseling and academic advising that guide students in choosing classes, staying on course, and overcoming setbacks
- Campus food pantries so students don’t have to choose between buying groceries and buying textbooks
- Mental health and wellness resources that help students manage stress, anxiety, and personal challenges
By addressing the whole student and not just their academic needs, your support improves retention and graduation rates.
Each student who stays in school, completes a credential, and moves into a stable career represents a powerful return on your generosity.
When you invest in these essential services, you multiply the impact of every dollar and help more students cross the finish line to graduation