Helios makes higher education accessible for transfer students 

At 38 and the father of two children, Taide Pineda thought attending Arizona State University was out of the question for someone like him. 

In 2006, Pineda had attempted to attend community college, but life got in the way. 

“I just figured it wasn’t for me and I dropped out. I didn’t earn any credits, and I didn’t even make it through the full semester. I quit probably after two weeks, and then I tried again like three or four years later at Rio Salado, like going online,” Pineda said. 

“But again, I wasn’t like, I don’t know, I just wasn’t focused. I wasn’t able to figure it out,” he said. 

About two years ago, Pineda, now a musician, enrolled into Phoenix College. This time he felt focused and he did well in his online classes. He decided to pursue a degree in business and marketing, but obtaining a four-year degree and taking on debt for school wasn’t something Pineda felt comfortable doing with a family to support. 

Pineda searched for ways to pay for school and joined a Hispanic Serving Institution group through Phoenix College. He found out about the scholarships offered by Helios Education Foundation. 

How does Helios Education Foundation help students? 

Helios uses public policy, research and data, community investments, such as scholarships and grants, and communications to improve access to higher education across Arizona and Florida.

Earlier this year, in honor of its 20th anniversary Helios gifted a total of $500,000 in scholarships to 20 Arizona transfer students to help them pursue and complete their four-year degrees.

Pineda was one of those students. 

Vince Yanez is the Helios Education Foundation Senior Vice President of Community Engagement.

“Higher education is inaccessible to far too many students, without a doubt. I think we need to do better, as a state, as a nation, to make sure that students have what they need so that they can move on and complete, whether it’s an associate’s degree, a bachelor’s degree, or something beyond that,” Yanez said. 

Helios wanted to offer a different type of scholarship for the nontraditional student who may not be heading to college straight out of high school, Yanez said.

Making higher education accessible to everyone is Helios’ core mission. 

“The numbers speak for themselves. If we want to thrive as a community, if we want to thrive as a state, as a nation, we need to educate our people. It’s very simple,” Yanez said.

“And so, we need to make the investments necessary to make sure that college is affordable and accessible to every student in our state.” 

How a Helios scholarship helped another Arizona student

One of those students who thought attending a university was out of reach was Leeza Jones of Yuma, Arizona. 

Jones was also a recipient of a $20,000 scholarship from the Helios 20th Anniversary Pathway Scholarship. She is a first generation college student and found college to be unaffordable.

Her father is a military veteran, and her mother is an African immigrant. Jones didn’t want to burden her family with taking out student loans, especially since her parents were older. 

Growing up, her family reminded her that they immigrated to the U.S. so that she could have the opportunities they never had as children. 

Jones is now attending Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, and is pursuing a degree in English and creative writing with a minor in philosophy. 

As a child, she remembers her dad taking her to the library and getting involved in local reading programs. One day, she  wants to be an author and write science fiction books. 

And without funding from Helios, this dream wouldn’t be possible. 

“The fact that people were already believing in me just signified so much for me. And I think Helios is a big part of why I feel like I can keep continuing and growing because they believe in students, and they give them a chance to show who they really are without any predetermined judgment or anything like that,” Jones said. 

When asked what advice she would offer to her younger self or someone else in her shoes, she said this: 

“I think my number one advice would be to apply to every and any scholarship, because at the end of the day you might be the only person applying, or you might think that your story isn’t good enough, but that might just be exactly what they’re looking for.” 

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Reporting by “Arizona Horizon” Education Solutions Reporter Roxanne De La Rosa. Her role is made possible through grant funding from the Arizona Local News Foundation’s Arizona Community Collaborative Fund and Report for America.

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