For nearly a decade, the Dream Big Fort Worth Determined Scholars program has helped Tarrant County students prepare for college by pairing financial support with personalized advising, workshops, and a cohort of peers who continue learning together throughout their college years.

This summer marked a new chapter for the program. Dream Big Fort Worth Determined Scholars is now Meyerson Rainwater Scholars, honoring the legacies of Morton H. Meyerson and Walter Rainwater, whose shared commitment to expanding educational opportunity helped shape the program from its beginning. While the name has changed, the program’s mission and the opportunities available to students remain the same.

Continuing the Legacy

Founded in 2016 through a partnership between The Morton H. Meyerson Family Foundation and Rainwater Charitable Foundation, the program serves Tarrant County public high school juniors who have demonstrated academic achievement, resilience in overcoming obstacles, commitment to their communities, a vision for their future, and financial need. The program primarily supports first-generation college students, recognizing that talented and determined students often benefit from additional guidance as they navigate a process that may be unfamiliar to them and their families.

By honoring resilience alongside academic achievement, the program seeks to invest in students whose determination has prepared them to succeed in college and beyond. Its mission is to provide support services and financial assistance that help Scholars earn a four-year degree while fully engaging in the college experience.

A Scholarship That Continues Beyond the Award

While students selected as Meyerson Rainwater Scholars receive up to $24,000 toward an undergraduate education, the program extends beyond the scholarship itself. It provides guidance and resources that help students navigate college from their senior year of high school through college graduation. College is filled with important decisions, long before and after an acceptance letter arrives, and the program is designed to help students prepare for those moments.

They participate in advising and programming that begins during their senior year of high school and continues throughout college. Workshops focus on preparing for SAT and ACT testing, choosing colleges and universities, completing applications, and building the academic, financial, and personal skills needed to navigate college successfully. Throughout college, Scholars continue to participate in the program, including attending the annual summer conference.

2026 Summer Conference

Every student arrives at college with questions that extend well beyond the classroom.

How do you manage money? Find a mentor? Build professional relationships? What do you do when you’re struggling academically or personally?

Those questions shaped this year’s Summer Conference, “Chart Your Course,” where Meyerson Rainwater Scholars came together to learn from professionals, alumni, and one another as they prepared for the next stage of college and beyond.

Throughout the day, Scholars participated in sessions on financial decision-making, career development, professional communication, mental health, civic engagement, and navigating college life. Current students and recent graduates also shared practical advice drawn from their own experiences, creating opportunities for newer Scholars to ask questions and learn from peers who had recently faced many of the same decisions. Between sessions, conversations continued over meals and breaks as Scholars reconnected with friends and met students from other cohorts.

Ready to Become a Meyerson Rainwater Scholar?

As Meyerson Rainwater Scholars begins its next chapter, the program continues the work that began nearly a decade ago: investing in determined Tarrant County students as they prepare for college, navigate new opportunities, and pursue the futures they have worked hard to build.

Applications for the next Meyerson Rainwater Scholars cohort are now open! The application period runs from November 2, 2026, through February 9, 2027. Visit www.meyersonrainwater.org to lean more and apply today.