Aduna Capital awards two $750 scholarships each year to California students studying finance, business, economics or accounting. One award is reserved for a student at a California community college. Applicants submit a 700-word essay about a money lesson they learned outside a classroom. Applications close 15 April 2027 and winners are announced 15 May 2027.
Why we fund this
Most of the people we work with are the first in their family to have a retirement account. They learned about money from watching a parent stretch a paycheque, not from a personal finance class — because most of them never had one.
That knowledge is real, and it is almost never written down. This scholarship exists to pay two students a year to write it down, and to put a small dent in the cost of studying the subject formally.
The essay prompt
Write 700 words on this: Describe a lesson about money you learned from your family, your work, or your own experience — before you ever learned it in a classroom. What was the lesson, what did it cost you or save you, and how has studying finance formally changed the way you understand it now?
We are not looking for a hardship story and we are not looking for polished finance writing. We are looking for one specific, concrete lesson, honestly examined. The best essays we have read are about small things — a first overdraft, a family member's side business, a decision about whether to send money home.
How essays are judged
| Criterion | Weight | What we mean |
|---|---|---|
| Specificity | 40% | One concrete lesson, examined properly — not five in outline |
| Insight | 30% | What formal study changed about how you see it |
| Clarity | 20% | Plain writing. Jargon does not help you here |
| Honesty | 10% | Including about what you got wrong |
Essays are read and scored by Alfonso Aduna and one faculty reader from a participating California institution. Scores are recorded against the published criteria above.
Who can apply
- 18 years of age or older at the time of application
- Enrolled at, or accepted to, a California community college or four-year institution for the 2027–28 academic year
- Declared or intended major in finance, business, economics or accounting
- 2.5 GPA or above — deliberately lower than most scholarships, because a 2.5 while working 30 hours a week is not the same as a 4.0 without a job
- U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or otherwise eligible to receive a scholarship at your institution
One of the two awards is reserved for a student enrolled at a California community college — Cerritos, Rio Hondo, Cypress, Golden West, Santa Ana, Long Beach City and East LA among them.
Official rules, in plain language
- No cost to apply, no purchase, and no requirement to become a client, meet with us, or attend anything.
- Neither applicants nor their families will be contacted about our services. Applying does not put you on a marketing list. We do not sell or share your information.
- Do not write about Aduna Capital. Essays that discuss our firm, our people or our services will be disqualified. We want your story, not ours.
- Funds are paid directly to your institution and applied to tuition and qualified expenses. We do not send cheques to students.
- Winners are announced by name and institution only, with written permission. We do not publish essays, photographs or personal details.
- Employees of Aduna Capital and their immediate families are not eligible.
- Awards are made on the published criteria alone. This is a merit competition, not a drawing.
The complete official rules — dates, judging, privacy, disqualification and tax treatment — are on the official rules page.
On taxes. A scholarship used for tuition and required fees by a degree candidate at an eligible institution is generally excludable from income under IRC § 117, which is why we pay your school rather than you. Amounts applied to room, board or other costs may be taxable. We are not able to give you tax advice on your own return — please speak with your institution's financial aid office or a tax professional.
Applying
- Write the essay — 700 words, plain text.
- Complete the form: name, email, institution, expected graduation, major, and your essay.
- Submit by 11:59 pm Pacific on 15 April 2027.
- We confirm receipt within two business days. Winners are notified by 15 May 2027, and everyone who applied is told the outcome — you will not be left wondering.
Open the application page Takes about 10 minutes once your essay is written.
Common questions
Do I have to be studying at a four-year school?
No — and one of the two awards is reserved specifically for a community college student. If you are at Cerritos, Rio Hondo, Cypress, Golden West, Santa Ana, Long Beach City or East LA College, you are competing for an award set aside for you.
Will you contact me about financial services if I apply?
No. Applying to this scholarship does not put you or your family on any marketing list, and we will not solicit you as a client. That is a rule of the program, not a courtesy.
Can I write about my family's business or my parents' money decisions?
Yes, and those are often the strongest essays. Write about what you actually witnessed. Please do not include other people's financial details beyond what is necessary to make the point.
What happens to my essay?
It is read by the judges and then retained only as long as needed to administer the award. We do not publish essays, use them in marketing, or share them with anyone outside the judging panel.
Is there an internship attached?
Not automatically — they are separate programs. But if you are interested in this field as a career, our intern-to-partner track is worth reading about, and applying to one does not affect the other.
More questions — including Spanish-language essays, DACA students, part-time enrollment and reapplying — are answered on the full FAQ page.
Studying finance and thinking about the career?
The scholarship is one thing. If you want to see what this work actually looks like day to day, start here.