Scholarships

The Valero Alamo Bowl started a scholarship program in 2000 with 26 San Antonio high school students splitting $52,000.

The success of the event allowed the Bowl to grow the high school awards and add a college scholarship program in 2016 with matching support from each San Antonio area four-year university.  These two programs now combine to award $1.25 million to 170 deserving students each year. This amount is the largest local scholarship total among the 40+ bowl games.

Through the 2024 season, the Valero Alamo Bowl scholarship programs have selected 1,919 scholarship winners who have split over $12 million in awards.

Valero Alamo Bowl Student-Athlete Scholarship Program (High School Seniors):

In 2025, the Valero Alamo Bowl is honored to award 100 high schools seniors with a $7,500 Valero Alamo Bowl Student-Athlete Scholarship, totaling $750,000. These students include at least one winner from every participating San Antonio area public and private high school.

The scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic achievement, teacher/coach recommendations, involvement in extracurricular activities, and varsity sports as well as honors received and a personal narrative. It is mandatory that each applicant have at least one varsity athletic letter from their school sponsored sport.

In addition to the scholarship, the winners are annually recognized at the H-E-B Scholarship Awards Luncheon and on-field during the Valero Alamo Bowl courtesy of game tickets provided by Frost and the Valero Alamo Bowl.

In 2024, there were 97 winners representing 77 different San Antonio area high schools.

Interested in the 2025 Valero Alamo Bowl Scholar-Athlete Program?

Seniors from Bexar County public schools and long-established private schools can obtain their Bexar County Scholarship Clearing House application from their school’s College and Career coordinator. Each school that turns in applicants that meet all the scholarship criteria will receive at least one winner.

Outer market public high schools (those outside of Bexar County but within 25 miles of the Alamodome) with an enrollment of 400+ students can request an application to share with their top student-athletes for consideration. While these schools don’t have guaranteed winners, these applicants are reviewed annually and multiple outer market school winners are chosen each year.

2025 Key Dates (all below tentative and based on 2024):

September 4-5: Bexar county schools receive allotment of applications and booklets of San Antonio / Bexar County Scholarship Opportunities for High School Seniors from the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation. Outer market public schools can email kenzih@alamobowl.com to receive an application.
November 1: Deadline for schools to submit their allotted student applications to the Foundation (each school’s internal deadlines vary so check with your school’s Counseling Office).
December 6: Winners notified and invited to the awards luncheon and Valero Alamo Bowl.
December 17: Winners recognized at the H-E-B Scholarship Awards Luncheon.
December 28: Winners recognized on the field during the first quarter of the Valero Alamo Bowl.

Each San Antonio high school will have the opportunity to submit up to six applicants (outer market schools can submit two), so interested students should check with their guidance departments to inquire about the status of their Valero Alamo Bowl submissions.

Valero Alamo Bowl Community Partners Scholarship (College Juniors and Seniors):

The Bowl’s college program is called the Valero Alamo Bowl Community Partners Scholarship and is funded by the Bowl and matching programs at all six of San Antonio’s four-year universities. The scholarship total and number of winners is announced at the start of each college football season.

In 2024, 71 winners from Our Lady of the Lake University, St. Mary’s University, Texas A&M–San Antonio, Trinity University, University of the Incarnate Word, and UTSA sharing $510,000 in awards were recognized at the PNC Pigskin Preview Luncheon. 

While each San Antonio university determines its own criteria for selecting the winners, the program’s focus is junior and seniors with a high propensity to stay and work in San Antonio. 

Valero Alamo Bowl scholarship programs are funded through Bowl partners and ticket buyers as well as direct contributions from Frost Bank, H-E-B, NuStar Energy, Valero, and the six San Antonio four-year universities.

Military Spouse Scholarship:

USAA, as the Official Military Appreciation Partner of the Valero Alamo Bowl, is proud to support a scholarship opportunity for military spouses (MilSpouse) residing in or near San Antonio who seek to advance their civilian education. The Valero Alamo Bowl Scholarship Committee annually grants one deserving military spouse a $7,500 scholarship. A link to apply for the 2025 scholarship will be linked here in October.

For information on how you support any of the Valero Alamo Bowl scholarship programs, please call 210-704-6391 or email here.