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February 19, 2025

A Maine scholarship foundation adds 4 colleges for tuition support

Thomas College graduates caps and gowns Photo / Courtesy of Thomas College Among 2,474 Worthington Scholars to date, 20 are graduates of Thomas College in Waterville.
By Renee Cordes

The Worthington Scholarship Foundation, a Rockland-based nonprofit that has supported 2,474 students to date, aims to expand its reach with the addition of four college partners.

Beverly Worthington and her late husband, David Worthington, began awarding scholarships to Maine high school graduates in 2010 via the Maine Community Foundation, then started their own foundation in 2017 to help Mainers from low-and middle-income families afford college.

The foundation provides multi-year scholarships to Maine public high school graduates who attend one of its partner colleges. Current partners include Bates, Bowdoin and Colby colleges, Husson University, Maine Maritime Academy, Thomas College, the University of Maine System and the Maine Community College System.

Beverly Worthington and Julie Bourgoin of the Worthington Scholarship Foundation.c
File Photo / Jim Neuger
Julie Bourgoin. left, and her mother, Beverly Worthington

Those institutions will be joined by the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine College of Art & Design in Portland, St. Joseph’s College of Maine in Standish and the University of New England, the foundation announced this week.

“Once we finalized our high school expansion in 2024, our first priority was reaching out to these four colleges about becoming partners,” Julie Bourgoin, the foundation’s president and Beverly Worthington's daughter, told Mainebiz. “This increase in college choice allows our scholars to pursue programs that best fit their educational goals.”

First-gen students 

A third of scholarship recipients to date are the first in their family to attend college.

Asked how the new partnerships came about, Bourgoin told Mainebiz that the foundation has steadily expanded its involvement with Maine high schools and colleges that share its vision.

“We collaborate with our partner colleges to facilitate supportive services aimed at helping our scholars persist and graduate college,” she said. “The four new college partners approached us over the past few years inquiring about a potential partnership.”

A total of 1,600 Worthington Scholars are currently attending college and receiving support. Out of the total, 22% are attending community colleges and 78% are studying at four-year institutions.

This year, the foundation aims to award 1,000 scholarships to Maine students.

More information

Applications for 2025 scholarships are due by April 15. Find out more about the program and eligibility requirements here.

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