03/24/2026
Starting high school is a major transition for any teenager, but for Wayde Sali, it was especially difficult. Having emigrated from the Philippines, Sali entered high school as a junior in 2022 after his parents moved to America in search of better economic opportunities.
By 2024, Sali not only graduated from high school but also earned the distinction of becoming a recipient of the St. David’s Neal Kocurek Scholarship Program. Now a sophomore at Austin Community College, he is pursuing a nursing degree and participated in the 529 College Savings Pilot, a forward-thinking initiative aimed at addressing scholarship displacement by accelerating access to funds and providing students with the flexibility to use their awards beyond tuition and books.
St. David’s Foundation proudly operates the Neal Kocurek Scholarship Program, the largest health care scholarship initiative in Texas. Over the past 20 years, the Foundation has disbursed over $27 million dollars of scholarship to students in Central Texas pursuing healthcare education. More than 850 scholarships have been awarded. The program is committed to eliminating economic barriers for students from marginalized communities to foster pathways to pursuing financially stable careers in healthcare.
Scholarship displacement occurs when an external scholarship, such as the Neal Kocurek Scholarship, reduces other forms of student financial aid—including grants, loans, federal work-study, or additional scholarships. Institutions may trigger displacement by considering a student “over-awarded” if their total aid exceeds the school’s cost of attendance.
Sixteen Neal Kocurek scholars were invited to participate in the pilot program and 100% of the students were satisfied with their experience using this approach, with most finding the flexibility of the pilot program especially valuable.
Learn more about Sali's experience with the 529 College Savings Pilot at stdavidsfoundation.org/stories (link in bio).