The SOAR Foundation is a nonprofit, nonreligious, and nonpolitical organization created in 1995 in California, U.S.A. The Foundation is dedicated to provide scholarships to those impoverished children in rural areas across China who perform well academically in their schools and want to continue their education. The SOAR scholarships enable them to have the opportunities to acquire a basic education.

 

The Foundation’s mission is to design and implement a scholarship program for poor students in rural areas. Each scholarship for junior high school student is US$100; and each high school student scholarship is US$300. As of the 2010 fiscal year, the Foundation has granted 20,827 scholarships to qualified students. Every scholarship candidate is nominated by a group of recommended teachers in the rural areas of China, and thoughtfully selected by the SOAR scholarship committee.

 

Ms. Siu Fong Chang, founder of the foundation, was the first scholarship donor. More than 3000 organizations and individuals have supported the SOAR scholarship program since its establishment.