Thirty-eight students from Hillsboro-area high schools will head to college this fall with a combined $120,000 in scholarship money from the Hillsboro Community Foundation.

That's a roughly 40 percent jump from the $86,000 the foundation awarded last year.

The foundation announced the recipients in early June through 12 named scholarship funds established by local families, businesses, and organizations. Students hail from Glencoe, Liberty, Century, Hillsboro, and Westview high schools, as well as the International School of Beaverton.

"The scholarships we award to our local students today are an investment in the future of Hillsboro," said Armando Jimenez, president of the HCF Board of Directors and chair of the Scholarship Committee.

"This year we saw a truly talented pool of scholarship applicants and these students will go on to make our community better and more vibrant as they pursue their dreams."

The Hillsboro Hops Dream Big Scholarship was the largest single fund by headcount, supporting 12 recipients headed to schools including Oregon State University, the University of Portland, and the University of Oregon.

The Jimmie Darr Scholarship supported eight students.

Among the standout stories: Leo Trajano, a Glencoe High School Class of 2026 graduate, won the Bernie Kuehn Scholarship for Music Education and will attend The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

Ashley-Clare Sarafa, a Liberty High School graduate, earned the Hillsboro Hops Ralph Helzerman Community Champion Scholarship and is headed to George Washington University.

Joe Wamunyu, also from Liberty, received two awards, the Black Advisory Business Council Scholarship and the Jimmie Darr Scholarship, and will attend Western Oregon University.

The Black Advisory Business Council Scholarship Fund is new to the endowed cycle. Created in 2023 by Titonian Wallace Sr., a founding member of the Washington County Black Advisory Business Council, the fund reached endowment status in September 2025.

"I felt it was important for kids to see that someone who looks like them thinks enough of them to create something specifically for them," Wallace said in a February HCF profile marking the fund's milestone.

Other funds reflect Hillsboro's history. The Gordon Faber Scholarship, established in 2001, honors the former mayor who served from 1992 to 2001. The Timothy J. Varela Memorial Manufacturing Scholarship sent Westview graduate Maya Hernandez-Olea to Oregon State University.

The Pacific Landscape Management Scholarship supported five students, including recipients attending the University of Washington and the College of William and Mary.

Recipients are headed to 17 different institutions, from Portland Community College to the University of Michigan.