Twenty-five freshmen at San Francisco State University received a windfall when they were named Presidential Scholars, meaning they get free tuition for four years, help with textbooks and rent and priority in registering for courses.

Considering this year's 30 percent tuition increase for students throughout the California State University system, it doesn't take a math major to realize the awards are more precious than ever.

"Add up the dollars, and it's definitely more valuable," said Matt It

elson, public relations coordinator at San Francisco State.

Bay Area winners of the $17,000 award include: Winnie Chow of Daly City, Christopher DeCarlo of San Pablo, Evie Fong of San Francisco, Vicky Fong of Daly City, Courtney Leslie of Belmont, Elizabeth Papp of San Jose, Jessica Quan of San Carlos, Heather Riggall of Vallejo, Sara Shayesteh of Foster City, Mirna Tarazi of Fremont and Joanne Ticsay of Daly City.

Money comes from million-dollar gifts from the Bernard Osher Foundation and Evergreen group founder Y.F. Chang, as well as from smaller donations. Chang recently donated an extra $100,000 to help pay for students' housing.

The students won the award because of their academic achievement, extracurricular activities, leadership potential and the ability to express themselves. Most had a grade-point average of 3.8 or higher and SAT scores upward of 1,100.

Boost from business: San Francisco schools received a big boost from the local business and foundation community at the recent launch of the Building Better Schools campaign.
The Business Advisory Council -- a group of executives who offer the district guidance -- established the campaign to encourage businesses to donate time and money to schools.

Wells Fargo, McKinsey & Co., Hellman and Friedman, the San Francisco Education Fund, the Every Child Can Learn Foundation and School Volunteers have joined the campaign.

Several of them have "adopted" local schools, awarding them $1,000 checks.

In addition, Wells Fargo gave $75,000 to the district.

"We firmly believe that we are only as strong as the health of the San Francisco community," said Lisa Stevens of Wells Fargo.