Virginia Smith Trust

Since 1975

College scholarships are available  to deserving college students from the Virginia Smith Scholarship Trust of Merced, California.  Students enrolled in an accredited California college or university may be eligible.

The Trust is administered by the Merced County Board of Education, sitting as the Trustees for the testamentary trust of Virginia Smith, a former resident of Merced, California.  Scholarships are awarded by a committee of Trustees based on the application presented.

Virginia Smith left Merced when she was a  young teen but retained strong ties and pleasant memories of her home town.  Memories so enduring that in her Will she provided for the formation of the Virginia Smith Trust with the intent to offer scholarships to deserving students who attended high schools in the City of Merced.

Virginia Smith bequeathed her 7,000 acre estate to the Merced County Board of Education to establish a trust that would provide college scholarships to area youth.  The Trust leased the land for 27 years and used the earnings from rent for awarding scholarships.  Beginning in 1995, the Trust operated the Merced Hills Golf Club on 197 acres of the land. In the spring of 2002 the ranch and the golf course were sold to the University of California.  The golf course site is now the tenth campus of the UC system--UC Merced, opened for classes on September 6, 2005.

The Trust is still in the land business, as the Trustees have joined with the UC Merced in development of 1,240 acres immediately south of the UC Merced campus.  Planning is about to begin for the community, which will provide shops, housing, schools, a future business park and more.  Earnings from the development will fund future Virginia Smith Scholarships.

Cyril, Virginia and Friends on a European trip.

To contact us:
Virginia Smith Trust
632 West 13th Street
Merced, CA 95341-5908
Phone: 209-381-6604