The Bernard Osher Foundation, in San Francisco, has pledged up to $50-million to the California Community Colleges system to support scholarships at 109 colleges, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Students will start receiving scholarships in the fall of 2009 after an initial $25-million gift from the foundation, the paper reports. The second $25-million will be awarded as matching funds — $1 for every $2 the college system raises. Foundation officials hope the gift inspires others to follow suit.

“We haven’t been at the table when it comes to philanthropy for years,” Paul I. Lanning, president of the Foundation for California Community Colleges, tells The Chronicle. “To me, it changes things for community colleges nationwide, tells the public community colleges want support.”

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