Knowledge is Power, Knowing is Empowering

April 07, 2025 | By NRCF Team

Every stu­dent deserves the chance to succeed—without fear, bar­ri­ers, or the finan­cial strain that often lim­its LGBTQ+ schol­ars. At Nation­al Rain­bow Col­lege Fund (NRCF), we’ve always believed that edu­ca­tion is the foun­da­tion for oppor­tu­ni­ty. Knowl­edge is pow­er, and under­stand­ing the needs of this com­mu­ni­ty empow­ers peo­ple to cre­ate pos­i­tive change.

Our mis­sion and impact have been fea­tured recent­ly in some of the most respect­ed LGBTQ+ and com­mu­ni­ty news out­lets, includ­ing Los Ange­les Blade, The San Diego Union-Tri­bune, OUT Mag­a­zine, and The Advo­cate Chan­nel. These media spot­lights are moments of recog­ni­tion and proof of the urgent need for equi­table access to high­er edu­ca­tion for LGBTQ+ stu­dents. The Bay Area Reporter was among the first to spread the word about our schol­ar­ship appli­ca­tion dead­line for the 2025–2026 school year, ensur­ing stu­dents had the oppor­tu­ni­ty to apply.

Every news arti­cle has helped ampli­fy our mes­sage: finan­cial bar­ri­ers should nev­er stand in the way of a student’s future. As high­light­ed in San Diego Foundation’s blog by Senior Direc­tor of Inte­grat­ed Fundrais­ing Jeff Spitko, LGBTQ+ stu­dents receive sig­nif­i­cant­ly less finan­cial sup­port from fam­i­ly than their het­ero­sex­u­al peers. Many also take on more stu­dent loan debt to com­pen­sate, lat­er regret­ting that deci­sion due to the insur­mount­able debt that becomes a bur­den.

Hear from schol­ar­ship recip­i­ents in an inter­view by The Advo­cate Chan­nel, which brought nation­al atten­tion to these dis­par­i­ties. Mark Stu­art, CEO of San Diego Foun­da­tion, shared the inspi­ra­tion behind our mis­sion in OUT Mag­a­zine—and what he would tell his fourth-grade self about the jour­ney that led to the incep­tion of NRCF. Los Ange­les Blade reached one of the country’s largest LGBTQ+ read­er­ships, while Chan­nel Qused its radio plat­form to spread aware­ness about our schol­ar­ship pro­gram and to remind Cal­i­for­nia stu­dents to apply before the dead­line.

In small­er com­mu­ni­ties through­out Cal­i­for­nia, 23ABC, KMUD News and Eure­ka Times-Stan­dardplayed a cru­cial role in reach­ing LGBTQ+ stu­dents who may not have easy access to schol­ar­ship infor­ma­tion. This cov­er­age is espe­cial­ly crit­i­cal for LGBTQ+ youth liv­ing in rur­al areas or with fam­i­ly who may not be sup­port­ive of their iden­ti­ties. Some stu­dents may even fear being “out­ed” while seek­ing support—but that’s what makes NRCF so unique: recip­i­ents do not need to be pub­licly out or dis­close their sex­u­al ori­en­ta­tion to receive a schol­ar­ship. All infor­ma­tion sub­mit­ted to the schol­ar­ship por­tal is con­fi­den­tial.

These media moments build con­nec­tions and raise aware­ness remind­ing LGBTQ+ stu­dents that they are seen, sup­port­ed and accept­ed. Edu­ca­tion is pow­er and a force for change: every LGBTQ+ stu­dent should have access to resources to suc­ceed in col­lege and beyond.

Knowl­edge is pow­er, and transformative—both for our mis­sion and for the greater LGBTQ+ com­mu­ni­ty. Just as media cov­er­age helps NRCF con­nect with LGBTQ+ stu­dents, it also fos­ters a deep­er under­stand­ing of the com­mu­ni­ty, cre­at­ing path­ways for these stu­dents to access oppor­tu­ni­ties that may have once felt out of reach. For many queer stu­dents, see­ing their expe­ri­ences reflect­ed in media, edu­ca­tion, and lead­er­ship can be life chang­ing. It sends a pow­er­ful mes­sage: you are not alone, you are val­ued, and you deserve a future full of pos­si­bil­i­ties.

Inspired to be a part of NRCF? You can help by spread­ing the word on social media, donat­ing or vol­un­teer­ing.