THREE summa cum laude graduates lead this year’s graduating batch of sM Foundation scholars. the 164 graduates comprise the 16th batch, with 75 graduating with honors — three summa cum laude, 13 magna cum laude, 44 cum laude and 15 with academic distinction.

The summa cum laude graduates finished baccalaureate degrees in accountancy. the others pursued courses in Education, Engineering, and Information technology.

The Sy family led by its patriarch, Henry Sy, Sr., held a traditional dinner to give the graduates and their parents the opportunity to meet their benefactors, including the officers of SM Foundation and its project partners. they were gifted with wrist watches and gifts certificates from the SM department stores, Hypermarket and SaveMore.

Prior to this dinner, scholars were interviewed by the human resource officers of the sM Group of Companies for job placements.

While a majority was directly hired, others had to forego jobs to review for board examinations while others applied with other companies here and abroad.

The SM scholarship program, the flagship program of SM Foundation gives an opportunity to poor students who cannot pursue further education to enroll in partner schools for a college degree. It provides free tuition and monthly allowance to scholars who are rigidly screened by a committee. the scholars are also given the opportunity to earn during summer and Christmas breaks with part-time jobs in any of the SM Group of Companies, thereby augmenting family income. the Foundation hosts various events for them during the schoolyear such as general assembly at the start of the schoolyear, tours to the science Discovery Center, free movies at the IMAX movie theater, spiritual recollection and a traditional Christmas party.

There are 1,200 college scholars enrolled in 82 partner schools; 103 of them have been adopted by private companies and individuals while the remaining are fully funded by the Foundation.

The Foundation likewise supports students enrolled in vocational schools like the Punlaan school and the Don Bosco Technical Institute. To date, the Foundation counts 1,464 college graduates since it was launched in 1992.