United for a cause in support of education
Becas Vallarta is a non-profit Civil Association, in charge of raising funds to administer a scholarship program for low-income students with academic excellence in Puerto Vallarta Jalisco, Mexico. Our association is legally constituted, incorporated into the Undersecretary for Development and Liaison with Civil Society Organizations. We’re authorized to issue tax-deductible receipts nationally and internationally, we have a CLUNI code for this purpose.
Our scholarships offer financial support that allows students to finish their degree. We start the process from middle school, high school and university, supporting our students until they finish their degree.
We currently serve communities in rural areas, such as Las Palmas, El Colorado, El Ranchito, La Desembocada, Ixtapa, Las Juntas and to the south of the municipality of Cabo Corrientes.
Our organization has a 60-year history, originating with the work of pioneers Ed and Berenice Starr, who teamed up to raise funds with Selma Gordon and Guadalupe Sánchez de Covarrubias. The group grew with the help of Richard Seaton from Kansas City, and in this way the America-Mexico Foundation, Inc was incorporated as a sister association of Becas Vallarta A.C in the United States.
Nuestras co-fundadoras
Our mission
We transform education through the granting of scholarships and workshops on different topics to low-income students with academic excellence in Puerto Vallarta, mainly in the rural area of this same entity, with the aim of improving their quality of life, being self-sufficient and contribute to the progress of the town.
To be a solid and reliable organization, a benchmark in Mexico for honest and transparent work, with a spirit of service and continuous improvement, which directs all its efforts to reduce school dropouts in our city, through the timely delivery of scholarships.
Our vision
Why to support a student?
Out of every 100 people aged 15 and over, 3 have no schooling. (INEGI, 2020)
In Puerto Vallarta, there are more than 10,000 illiterate people. 48.4% corresponded to men and 51.6% to women. (INEGI, INEGI ORG, 2021)
In Jalisco, there are more than 240,000 illiterate people, which corresponds to 2.87% of the population. (INEGI ORG, 2021)
For reasons associated with COVID-19 or for lack of money or resources, 5 million people (9% of the total 3 to 29 year-olds) did not enroll in the 2020-2021 school cycle. Of this total, 3 million did not enroll in the following cycle because they had to work.
(INEGI: National Survey on Access and Permanence in Education (ENAPE) 2021)
Mexico has the second highest school dropout rate in Latin America due to the pandemic and high school is the level of education with the highest dropout rate; according to the Ministry of Public Education it reached 9.2%. (SEP, 2021)
SOURCE(s): National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics (INEGI, 2020 – 2021) / Ministry of Public Education (SEP) (2021)
Solidarity
Transparency
Compromise
Excelence
Responsability
Who benefits from our programs?
Our scholarships supports teenagers from the second year of high school and until they finish their university studies.
With 60 years of work, we already have more than 120 generations of students and we currently serve 220 young scholarship holders.
Our selection process begins in the secondary schools, with the help of the Social Worker of each school and a socioeconomic study of the family. This is how each file is presented to the Board of Directors who decides if they are creditors of the scholarship. Applicants who must have a general average of 9 and above.