FSC Launches Northwell Community Scholars Program
Partnership to Provide Tuition, Fees, Expenses, and Wrap-around Advising Services for Disadvantaged Students
Farmingdale State College (FSC) has announced a new partnership with Northwell Health Inc. to launch an expansion of the Northwell Community Scholars Program at FSC. The program, Northwell’s first four-year-degree school partnership, will begin this fall with five incoming students from underserved communities and will offer scholarship funds for tuition, books, transportation, lab fees, and meal plans.
The Community Scholars Program at FSC will cover 85% of in-state tuition and fees, plus an additional $10,500 toward indirect expenses, for the entirety of their studies at FSC, enabling individuals who might be financially challenged from pursuing their dream of a college education.
The FSC partnership is the latest expansion of the Northwell Community Scholars program, originally launched in 2022 with a $5 million investment from Northwell Health, Inc., New York State’s largest employer and largest health system. The program focuses on health and social inequities impacting hundreds of students across select high schools in Long Island, Queens, and Manhattan, with plans to expand to Westchester County in 2025. The program seeks to fund more than 300 Long Island college students by 2026.
“This program will help remove the barrier of cost for students who are willing to put in the work. We are exceptionally excited to partner with Northwell to make the dream of a college education a reality,” said Matthew Colson, vice president for development & alumni engagement at FSC. “We are excited to see what they will achieve.”
“We believe education is a key social determinant of health,” said Dr. Debbie Salas-Lopez, senior vice president of the Office of Community Wellness and Population Health at Northwell Health. “It’s a gateway to not only health and wellness but to employment opportunities and financial success.”
Among the criteria for acceptance into the program, students will need to be accepted by Northwell as a student of the program from one of their partner high schools, be a New York State resident, meet the basic requirements for admission at Farmingdale and pursue a full-time degree program.
