Kofa senior wins scholarship, eases nursing school debt worries

Enrique Diaz, a Kofa High School senior in Yuma, got a $20,000 scholarship that could help keep him on track for nursing school and out of the kind of debt that had already forced him to rethink his future.

Diaz was selected for the El Valle Puede Scholarship, one of five $20,000 awards given this year to Arizona students during a celebration at PHX Arena. The program is funded by Helios Education Foundation in partnership with the Phoenix Suns/Phoenix Mercury Foundation and the Arizona Board of Regents, and it was announced in December 2023 with a $1 million Helios grant to be distributed over five years.

For Diaz, the money changes more than a budget. He said the scholarship lifted a burden he had been carrying as he tried to figure out how to pay for nursing school. Before getting the award, he had seriously considered enlisting in the Navy just so school would be paid for. The scholarship gave him another path, one that keeps college and a healthcare career within reach without putting his family under the strain of additional debt.

The El Valle Puede scholarship is aimed at Latino high school seniors in Arizona, with recipients selected by Helios and the Suns/Mercury Foundation. This year’s event drew more than 1,800 Arizona high school seniors and served as a kickoff to Arizona Decision Day 2026, part of a broader college-going push that Arizona Board of Regents says also includes the Arizona College Application Campaign and the Arizona FAFSA Challenge.

Helios says it has invested more than $350 million since its founding, focusing on postsecondary attainment for low-income and historically underrepresented communities. In Yuma County, the scholarship also fits into a larger pattern of college support already visible through the Helios Ready Now Yuma Scholars program, which offers up to $15,000 a year for up to four years to Yuma Union High School District seniors with financial need. Since launching in 2019, that program has drawn more than 450 qualified applicants and is part of a more than $2.6 million investment over 10 years in district students.

Diaz’s award shows how one scholarship can shape more than a single semester. It can alter a family’s finances, keep a local student on a healthcare track, and help Yuma add another future nurse to the region’s workforce.