Hispanic Scholarship Fund

Scholarships are extended to United States citizens, legal residents, individuals who have temporary status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy, and other non-citizens. ¹

In December 2025, the American Alliance for Equal Rights sued the Hispanic Scholarship Fund on behalf of its non-Hispanic members for discrimination. The group alleged that the HSF violated a Reconstruction era law that banned racial discrimination in contracts. ²

Finances

According to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund’s 2025 tax return, the group had $54,519,036 in revenues, $70,065,709 in expenses, and $96,710,238 in net assets. The group paid CEO Fidel Vargas $720,929 in reported compensation. The group paid $32,453,331 in scholarships that year. ³

Notable Funders

In December 2021, Toyota featured the Hispanic Scholarship Fund in its annual holiday commercial and social media campaign. HSF wrote, “One of two holiday commercials from Toyota, ‘Nora’s Joy,’ brings a timely message of happiness and giving-back to audiences. It is the story of a young woman who finds the ability to magically capture her emotions in jars, where she keeps them locked away in shyness. Inspired by the holiday happiness around her, she releases her feelings of joy and good-will with all who have touched her life in one way or another throughout the community, lighting up the night sky.” Toyota featured a digital “joy jar” post on its ToyotaLatino Instagram page and Toyota donated up to $50,000 for every share of a joy jar. Toyota had been supporting the HSF for 20 years at that point. ⁴

In September 2022, Honda gave an additional $1 million to HSF as part of a partnership that began in 2003. In addition, Honda sponsored the HSF National Leadership Conference, which provides Latino college sophomores with professional leadership development and career opportunities. ⁵

In September 2022, Raising Cane’s founder and co-CEO Todd Graves began to support the Hispanic Scholarship Fund with an initial donation of $100,000. Graves and his company said the contribution would be the beginning of a long-term relationship with HSF. ⁶

Lowe’s has been a supporter of HSF since 2009 and renewed its relationship with HSF in August 2024. Lowe’s donations “will sustain support for HSF’s Finance Conference, STEM Summit, and Scholarship,” according to HSF in a release. ⁷

In 2025, MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, gave the HSF $70 million. During 2025, Scott’s charitable giving prioritized colleges and universities. ⁸

In April 2025, the HSF announced that the Coca-Cola Company was the sponsor of its 50th Anniversary Celebration and Leaders in Education Awards in Los Angeles. Coca-Cola paid HSF $1 million to sponsor its awards celebration. Coca-Cola has been a supporter of HSF since 1998. ⁹

In July 2025, ABM Industries renewed its relationship with the HSF by giving the group a $50,000 annual contribution as a part of “ABM’s ongoing dedication to advancing education and workforce development, aligning with HSF’s mission to equip students and families with the resources needed to successfully complete a higher education journey.” ¹⁰

Qualification for Program

The Hispanic Scholarship Fund not only provides scholarships for United States citizens, but also legal permanent residents, individuals given temporary status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy, and any other individual who qualifies to apply for federal financial aid under the Free Application for Federal Student Aid’s (FAFSA) eligible non-citizen category. ¹¹

In 2008, the Association of Raza Educators (A.R.E.), a far-left education advocacy organization, pressured Hispanic Scholarship Fund to expand its program and provide scholarship funding for all noncitizens, including illegal immigrants. ¹²

Controversies

In December 2025, the American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER) filed a lawsuit against the Hispanic Scholarship Fund in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of two students. Both students, and the AAER, argued that the Fund violated the Civil Rights Act by illegally discriminating and restricting scholarships to those who “identify as being Hispanic.” ¹³ Edward Blum, the president of AAER, argued, “There are lots of scholarship funds and grants that target certain races and religions and ethnicities that are legal…[t]his one, because it is of a contractual nature, falls outside of the law.” ¹³

Leadership

Fidel A. Vargas is the president of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. Prior to joining the organization, he was a founding member of Centinela Capital Partners, an asset management firm. ¹⁴ Vargas has made political contributions to the Democratic National Committee, the Hilary Clinton campaign, the Barack Obama campaign, the Xavier Becerra congressional campaign, and other Democratic Party candidates. ¹⁵

Gene Camarena is the chairman of the board of directors for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. He is the President and CEO of La Raza Pizza, Inc., a company with substantial stakes in Pizza Hut, Marriot Hotels, banking and real estate development. ¹⁶ Camarena has made political contributions to Kansas Democratic Party congressional candidate Carlos Nolla and I.P.H.F.H.A. Inc., the political action committee for the Pizza Hut Franchise Holders Association. ¹⁷