PG&E Awards Scholarships to 60 Students Across Northern and Central California Helping Ease College Costs for Families

$350,000 from The PG&E Corporation Foundation will Help Students Pursuing Higher Education

By Tracy Correa Lopez

The PG&E Corporation Foundation is awarding 60 students from across PG&E's service area with 2024 Better Together STEM Scholarships.

The PG&E Corporation Foundation (PG&E Foundation) funds the Better Together STEM Scholarship program. This year, the PG&E Foundation is sponsoring 20 scholarships of $10,000, 20 scholarships of $5,000, and 20 scholarships of $2,500 each, for a total of $350,000. These charitable donations come from PG&E shareholders, not PG&E customers.

Scholarships are awarded to students pursuing degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) disciplines. STEM education fosters ingenuity, creativity, and experimentation, leading to new ideas, innovations, and technological advancements that can have global impact.

Alexis Schoel, from Yuba City, comes from a small school of less than 50 students where she took Advanced Placement courses. She hopes to be the first in her family to obtain a bachelor’s degree with the help of her Better Together STEM scholarship.

“This accomplishment is not just for me, but also for my family. This scholarship will help me achieve all my future goals of becoming an engineer and maybe even one day leading my own team of engineers,” said Schoel, who will major in mechanical engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Samuel Badilla, of Reedley, will major in environmental studies at the University of Southern California.

“Someone at PG&E believed that I can succeed in college and positively make a difference in the world’s fight for the environment and sustainability, and that support allows me to believe in myself as well,” said Badilla.

Scholarships are based on academic achievement, demonstrated participation and leadership in school and community activities, and financial need. You can see the full list of this year’s scholarship recipients here and watch a video of prior scholar Ella Heimbrodt whose passion to understanding the effects of climate change led her to major in sustainable environmental design at UC Berkeley.

“For more than a decade, The PG&E Corporation Foundation has helped lessen the financial burden of higher education for families, and supported students as they pursue their college dreams and STEM-based education — it’s a tradition that we are grateful to be able to continue. These scholars are our future doers and thinkers and will help solve tomorrow’s problems, come up with solutions to better care for our planet and communities, and we can’t wait to see all that they will accomplish,” said Carla Peterman, PG&E Corporation Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer, and Chair of the Board of The PG&E Corporation Foundation. 

Scholarship recipients must plan to enroll in full-time undergraduate study for the entire 2024-2025 academic year and be seeking their first undergraduate degree at an accredited four-year institution in California, or at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) anywhere in the United States. HBCU eligibility was added two years ago in response to a trend in applications from students admitted to HBCUs, none of which are in California.

Supporting Local Scholars

Since 2012, the Better Together STEM Scholarship Program has awarded nearly $7.5 million to accomplished students — all charitable donations from PG&E shareholders, not customers.  

In addition to the Better Together STEM Scholarship Program, PG&E's 11 employee resource groups (ERGs) and two engineering networking groups (ENGs) award scholarships to help offset the cost of higher education. The funds are raised entirely through employee donations, employee fundraising events and Campaign for the Community, the company’s employee giving program. Since 1989, more than $6 million ERG/ENG Scholarships have been received by thousands of recipients.