Empowering Student Success

For 27 years, the Costco Scholarship Fund has empowered underrepresented minority students to achieve their dreams of higher education. Continuing the legacy of supporting these students, this year’s Costco Scholarship Breakfast hit a new fundraising record, raising $8.4 million.

The funds generated at the annual event, held on September 30 at the Seattle Convention Center, directly support scholarships for students attending Seattle University and the University of Washington.

The Costco Scholars program, established in 2000 by Costco co-founders Jim Sinegal and the late Jeff Brotman, has raised more than $100 million to provide financial aid to thousands of students from underrepresented communities. Since the beginning of the partnership, there have been 1,500+ Costco scholars at SU.

“To Costco and to each of you who has sustained this program through your generosity, partnership and belief in our students, thank you for empowering the journeys of so many,” said SU President Maura B. Mast, PhD, in her remarks at the breakfast. “We seek to prepare students not only with knowledge, but also with wisdom and discernment. To understand the world as it is, imagine the world as it might be and help bridge the distance between the two.”

Current Costco Scholar and second-year SU business student K’Lynn Bryant, ’28, was this year’s student speaker.

Bryant shared her story of growing up on a family beef farm in Woodburn, Oregon, and applying for college knowing it wasn’t financially possible. But the Costco Scholarship created a path forward.

“I applied to 11 schools, was accepted to nine and could afford zero,” Bryant said in her speech. “The Costco Scholarship gave me hope from the very beginning. That hope grew into opportunity. The support from Costco and Seattle University showed me that higher education wasn't out of reach.”

In her first year at SU, Bryant embraced academic challenges and published her first book of poems with pieces from one of her classes.

“Everyone, from any background or circumstance, can use their voice to inspire others.” Bryant said. “I want the next generation of students to have hope and to keep pushing toward their goals, knowing that there are opportunities and organizations like Costco that genuinely care.”