First Coast Community Development Inc Expands STEM Scholarship Program

In 2023, former Marine Charlie Griffin and his daughter, Carly, started a community service-based scholarship for students in Northeast Florida who want to attend an HBCU and study in the STEM field. Initially, the pair started the fund off at $10,000 but increased the number of scholarships as well as expanded the applicant pool to include undergraduate students who are enrolled. 

As First Coast News reported, the fund is now worth $50,000, and the community service aspect of the scholarship’s requirements is something that resonates deeply with Charlie, who pays for the meals of the Jacksonville homeless community each week. Griffin told First Coast, “I think it’s important to be invested in the community that you’re going to live in,” Charlie Griffin said. “And do something that you can truly be remembered for in your community because you never know who you’re going to touch.”

The scholarship is split evenly between 25 undergraduate students and 25 graduating seniors, and Carly told First Coast that even though the students who will be receiving the scholarships aren’t too much younger than her, it sends a positive message that so many want to be a positive influence on their communities. “We want to be in a position to put others out in the community and make a difference,” Carly Griffin explained. “I’m so grateful that we can do this for another year and grateful that there are so many eager students just a bit younger than me but still have that drive to make a difference.”

According to the scholarship’s website, Charlie, the CEO of First Coast Community Development Inc., has an additional incentive for those whose work focuses on HIV prevention, as well as awarding extra money to the student with the best video from each category. “Also, our CEO, Charlie Griffin, has sweetened the deal. If your video is about PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) for HIV prevention, you’ll get an additional $250 on top of your scholarship, and an extra $500 will be awarded to the best video from both the high school and undergraduate categories.”

As FAFSA and the Education Department’s rollout of the FAFSA Simplification Act has made it difficult for students to obtain federal aid, scholarships like this one will help as students continue to wait. As CNBC reported, only about 4 million students have applied for federal aid, significantly fewer than the 17 million students who typically utilize FAFSA. Although the new version of FAFSA is expected to benefit more low-income students, the delays have forced universities to push their deadlines back to accommodate the federal government’s mishandled rollout. 

On April 10, the Education Department was grilled by members of the Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee at a hearing that discussed the disastrous rollout. Committee Chairman Burgess Owens (R-UT) did not mince words in his opening statement. “Despite our efforts, the Department of Education’s FAFSA rollout was mired in delays and dysfunction,” Owens said. “Without accountability, Department of Education’s botched implementation threatens to damage students, families, and institutions.”

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