Since 1996 — Rio Grande Valley, Texas
First in their familyto finish college.
For nearly thirty years, we've helped first-generation students from the Valley pay for college and stay in it. Every scholar gets a four-year renewable scholarship and a mentor who sticks with them until they graduate.
In partnership with
The Impact
More than 1,400
graduates so far.
Our scholars go on to become doctors, teachers, engineers, and business owners, mostly right here in the Valley. A lot of them come back to mentor the students coming up behind them.
From a VAMOS Alumnus
"The scholarship paid for school, but the part that stuck with me was knowing a group of people back home had decided to bet on me. I didn't want to let them down."
Our Story
It started with a few
Valley leaders in 1996.
Alonzo Cantú was the first in his own family to finish college. In 1996 he invited a group of Valley business leaders to his home in McAllen. NAFTA had just passed, the region was changing fast, and he was convinced the Valley needed more of its own kids earning college degrees.
Thirty years later, more than 1,400 students have gone to college with VAMOS behind them. A lot of them are still part of the same network they joined as scholars.
Read the full story
Scholarships
Three scholarships
to choose from.
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Power a Scholar
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actually goes.
Most of our scholars are the first in their family to finish college. When that happens, it tends to change things for everyone who comes after them. It's hard to think of a better place to put a dollar.
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