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The Virginia Western Community College Educational Foundation has broken the $100,000 threshold in available scholarships. Just in time, too.

The foundation, which is independent of the college, has $111,890 in scholarship money for Virginia Western students next school year, most of it from area businesses and individuals. That tops the $88,066 in scholarships it doled out last year.

The scholarship money comes at a time when the college is likely to see an increase in applications, spurred by the teetering economy.

"The turndown in the economy will only increase the unemployment rate, which historically has increased enrollment in community college programs," Carol Sliver, Virginia Western's financial aid officer, wrote in an e-mail.

Katherine Strickland, executive director of the foundation wants to help some of those students.

"We really want to improve the level of higher education attainment that our community has," she said.

The foundation offered scholarships to 65 students last school year. This year, 86 students are recipients of foundation scholarships, and that number is expected to grow by about 20 percent next year.

But both the foundation and the college sometimes have a hard time finding students to give scholarships to.

"We've got over $100,000 to give away, but this is the sad thing, sometimes students don't apply for them," Strickland said. "It's kind of a new thing for students at community colleges to realize there is an opportunity."

Sliver said the college is reaching out to high school students and their parents to get them to apply for financial aid or scholarships.

"Our main focus is to have everyone complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)," she wrote in her e-mail.

The school enrolls about 12,000 students and charges roughly $1,300 a semester for Virginia residents. And although it is still "the best educational buy in the region," according to Sliver, Virginia Western nonetheless has been feeling the pinch from the state's tight budget. Strickland said that more than a third of the college's funding comes from tuition, grants and fundraising.

"Everybody thinks of us as being fully funded by the state and, in fact, I think it would better stated that we are assisted by the state," she said.

Tapping wealthy alumni and donors for contributions is an established practice at four-year colleges and universities, but it's a relatively recent innovation for community colleges.

"It's only in the last 10 years, at least in the state of Virginia, that community colleges have really used the resources of their foundations," Strickland said.

At Virginia Western, the fundraising efforts started in earnest with a major campaign that wrapped up in 2005 and brought in $4 million. That money was used to support the school's health technology program, to buy equipment such as computers and to fund scholarships for students.

"It was the first time the community college had ever really gone to the community and said, 'Can you help us?' " Strickland said.

In January, the foundation also announced a partnership with the city of Salem that will offer free tuition for graduates of Salem High School. The 2008 Salem graduates must enroll at Virginia Western in the fall as full-time students.

"We will pay through spring of 2010 or until they finish a program," Strickland said.

On the Web: www.virginiawestern.edu/foundation