The Public Education Foundation Adelson Scholarship Helps Local Students

In 2001, the Adelson family started the Adelson Scholarship in partnership with The Public Education Foundation (PEF) to help Team Members’ dependents with scholarships for college. Over the past 16 years, the Adelson Scholarship has awarded 48 scholarships worth a total of $481,000.

“It’s an amazing gift, truly a very generous scholarship,” Clarice Donnelly, Scholarship Senior Director at PEF, said. “This scholarship is open for students to use at any university of their choice, whether in Nevada or other parts of the country.”

The scholarship is awarded to three new students every year, worth $3,000 for four years, totaling $12,000 awarded to each student. In order for students to receive their award every year, they must maintain their GPA, submit transcripts and submit their schedule for the following semester. Las Vegas Sands then approves the renewal or new award so the students can continue receiving the money year after year.

“It’s very rare that they get four years paid to attend college,” Donnelly said. “They can still keep the scholarship if they decide to defer and travel for a year. All of the money goes to the student, PEF just holds and transfers the money from Las Vegas Sands to the university.”

PEF currently administers 250 different scholarships for high school seniors in Southern Nevada to attend both in-state and out-of-state universities. In 2016, they awarded over one million dollars in scholarships to local students. Since the start of the PEF Scholarship program in 1994, they have awarded 5,443 scholarships to 4,192 students totaling over $10 million.

“The students write letters every year as they receive the money,” she said. “They are so appreciative of the Adelson’s and the contributions that they’ve made to their education. It’s amazing to see students thriving from such a wonderful gift.”