Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Past and present students discuss benefits of the Ford Family Scholarships

Photos and Story by James Hill

Ngoc Nguyen is in rare company. But she is aiming to change that.

She is one of seven 2019 Ford Family Scholarship recipients who have graduated from Portland Community College, which annually is one of the top recipient schools. Since 1994, PCC has had 169 recipients earn a total of $1.7 million in Ford Family scholarship dollars.

The foundation, which was built from the Ford family’s timber company in southern Oregon, offers grants for non-traditional community college students looking to transfer to earn an associate, bachelor’s or even a graduate degree. It is one of Oregon’s largest scholarships and funds 90 percent of unmet need.

It is one of the best scholarships that community college students can earn and supporters like Nguyen hope even more PCC students apply to it this application season. In addition to financial support, the foundation provides leadership development training (retreats each summer for some scholarships), free academic and personal counseling, and professional networking support. 

“The Ford staff gave me tremendous support,” said Nguyen, who is in her first term studying international and comparative policy at Reed College. “I’m a first-generation student so I had no idea what college was like here in the United States. Ford has a good support system, which helped me learn more about myself. They gave me a clearer picture of who I wanted to be.”

Future Diplomat

Nguyen is a good example of the type of change the scholarship has provided students at PCC. The 24-year-old is the first in her family to go to college. Her parents worked full-time to support her as she studied and explored a career in international relations at Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City.

They immigrated to Portland three years ago and settled in Southeast Portland to create a better educational opportunity for their daughter. Nguyen chose to attend PCC because of the affordability, smaller class sizes, and the ingrained student support network at the Career Services, Women’s Resource and Writing centers.

“It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” Nguyen smiled. “Coming to PCC really helped me focus on what I wanted to do. I met a lot of faculty that gave me guidance and support. The resource centers were huge for me, too. It’s a community that supports you and can help take you to where you want to go.”

When she’s done with school, Nguyen wants to go into foreign service as a diplomat or ambassador for her native Vietnam. The support from PCC and the Ford Family Scholarship made her dream possible.

“I actually didn’t think I could get the Ford Family Scholarship,” admitted Nguyen, who works as an office assistant for Oregon Health & Science University’s Office of Student Affairs. “I knew for sure I wouldn’t be able to afford a Reed College education, and I applied for many scholarships but didn’t get any until Ford awarded me one. It was a good learning experience.”

Making a Difference

Jen Poinar, who works as the Southeast Campus Career Services coordinator, received the high school version of the Ford Family scholarship while at Newport High School. The money helped her graduate from University of Oregon with no debt.

“As a first-generation college student at the time, I knew very little about scholarships,” she said. “I was more than ecstatic to learn I received one.”

Poinar was able to earn more than $100,000 in scholarships in her college career (most of which came from the Ford family). She was able to attend both of her first-choice colleges (undergraduate and graduate) and didn’t have to worry about going into debt. The money allowed her to attend Middlebury Institute of International Studies to obtain her master’s degree in International Management, and study abroad in France and New Zealand.

To give back, Poinar volunteers with the Ford Family Foundation as a reviewer where she helps to select finalists for the Ford Scholar, Ford Restart and Ford Opportunity scholarships. She also promotes the opportunity for these scholarships on PCC campuses through scholarship labs and workshops.

“For me personally, this scholarship was life changing,” Poinar said. “I was someone who never thought they were ‘scholarship material.’ Many students are surprised that there is such a large scholarship available to them. A scholarship of this nature can help a student think more long term about their academic and career goals.”