In Oakland, A New Beginning: Davidson College, Stephen Curry and College Track Partner to Launch The Curry Scholars Program

 

Oakland, CA (May 7, 2026) – Davidson College, the national college completion program College Track and Oakland Unified School District are teaming up with four-time NBA champion, two-time MVP and Davidson alum Stephen Curry to create a full scholarship for high-achieving students from underserved communities in the Bay Area.

Five to ten students each year will be selected for the scholarship to Davidson, in North Carolina, one of the nation’s premier liberal arts colleges. The scholarship is a natural extension of Stephen and his wife, Ayesha Curry’s commitment to improving the lives of kids and families in Oakland through their Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation. The foundation works to ensure that every child in Oakland has access to the nutritious food they need to be healthy and thrive; resources to learn and love to read; and safe places and equitable opportunities to play.

The Davidson College Curry Scholars Program will offer talented students access to a transformative college experience at Davidson. It reflects the college’s longstanding efforts to recruit first-generation college students and build a community of students from all backgrounds, reflected in the more than 22 percent of current, first-year Davidson students who are eligible for Pell grants.

“Davidson changed my life. It’s where I figured out who I was, not just as a basketball player, but as a person,” said Curry. “Being able to create this opportunity for students from the Bay Area means everything to me. I know what that experience can unlock when you’re given the chance to step into a place like Davidson, to grow, to be challenged and to see what’s possible for your future. This is about opening that door for the next generation and making sure they have the support to walk through it.

The first class of the program is planned for the fall of 2027. Interested students in the Bay Area can learn more and apply at the Davidson College Curry Scholars webpage . Applications and financial aid information are due Monday, Sept. 21, and an in-person selection process will be held in Oakland on Tuesday, October 20.

Scholarship recipients will receive tuition, fees, housing, meals, books, a computer allowance and a trip to Davidson during April of their senior year in high school with a guest. A send-off celebration in Oakland in August will help launch them on their Davidson journey. College Track helps support scholars with individualized college and career coaching that complements the distinctive support of the Davidson College community and the college’s Matthews Center for Career Development. College Track was chosen for the partnership because of its proven model supporting Oakland’s first-generation college students from high school through graduation, the same continuum the Curry Scholars Program is designed to sustain.

“Davidson College’s mission is to send graduates into the world to lead and serve,” said Davidson College President Doug Hicks. “Stephen has proven himself a leader, not just in his career, but in devotion to his family and in working to create better opportunities for the children and young adults in Oakland. We’re excited to partner with him, again, and this time to help his young neighbors who are so important to him and to the future.”

College Track, founded in 1997, partners with first-generation students from under-resourced communities. More than 4,800 College Track high school and college students across California, Colorado, Louisiana, and the D.C.–Maryland area are pursuing their goal of becoming the first in their family to graduate from college.

“We’re honored that Davidson is not only joining College Track’s cohort of college and university partners, but doing so in a way that highlights the legacy and contributions of one of its most dedicated alumni who cares deeply about ensuring youth in all communities thrive ,” said College Track President and CEO Shirley M. Collado.“This is a wonderful expression of our shared commitment to first-generation college students who seek to achieve their dreams through the power of higher education.”

Davidson College joins a growing network of more than 20 college and university partners with College Track — institutions committed not only to admitting first-generation students, but to removing the barriers that stand between acceptance and graduation.

The Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) enrolls nearly 34,000 students, over 80 percent of whom qualify for free or reduced-price meals. OUSD’s counseling and post-secondary readiness teams will work with Davidson to identify applicants, joining College Track in helping to create a sustained pipeline of high-achieving students from under-resourced families to apply to the Davidson College Curry Scholars Program.

The Davidson College Curry Scholars Program was announced at the College Track national office in Oakland among a gathering of dozens of prospective applicants identified and recruited by College Track and OUSD, whose representatives were joined by members of Davidson’s admission team.

Davidson College competes at the highest levels academically and in athletics. It is among a very small number of liberal arts colleges that play Division I sports, including Davidson’s basketball program, where Curry helped lead the team to the Elite Eight in the 2008 NCAA tournament. Davidson cultivates the skills to lead and serve – to solve big problems in society and in the economy. The college’s new Martin Institute for Public Good guides students in the array of skills required of leaders in a divided era: fostering respectful and deliberative conversation while protecting free speech, researching and developing policy ideas, practicing hands-on problem-solving through community engagement and building personal integrity that will follow them in life.

Davidson is a community of smart, driven and kind people. The relationships and experiences there develop the capacities needed as artificial intelligence drives rapid change. Students graduate with the deep skills to navigate the gray and unfamiliar. They are encouraged to think critically, ask good questions and communicate with audiences from all backgrounds.

Davidson’s commitment to recruiting students from all life experiences includes a rare trio of policies:

• Admitting without regard to an applicant’s ability to pay.
• Covering all need beyond the calculated family contribution.
• Covering that need through grants and work-study – no loans.

About College Track

College Track’s mission is to equip first-generation scholars to earn a bachelor’s degree and build lives filled with opportunity, choice, purpose, and power.

Across the country, College Track alumni represent what’s possible when first-generation scholars have long-term support and access to higher education. Ninety percent of those scholars are the first in their family to attend college, and 84 percent come from under-resourced communities. They graduate at more than two and a half times the national rate for first-generation peers.