The Presidential Scholars Foundation (PSF) is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) corporation, founded in 1989 to help support the program in the case of decreased federal funding, which did occur in 1993. The Foundation is the sole organization authorized by the Commission to raise funds for the Presidential Scholars Program, and has a twenty-plus-year track record of raising and managing millions of dollars in contributions on behalf of the program. Contributions to the Foundation are tax-deductible. Because the Foundation's sole mission is support of this program (primarily National Recognition Week), and all its officers serve on a volunteer basis, all contributions go directly to the program and not to overhead or administrative costs. The Foundation's current board includes the Commission Chairman, corporate partners, and current and former Commissioners, and Presidential Scholar Alumni.

The Foundation's three main objectives are:
· To provide financial resources for the Commission on Presidential Scholars;
· To develop and maintain a Presidential Scholars Alumni Society, and
· To conduct a comprehensive outreach program in order to expand and enhance awareness of and support for the Presidential Scholars Program.

Major program sponsors contributing to the Foundation have included GMAC Financial Services, the American Trucking Association, Coca-Cola Enterprises, the Merck Company Foundation, and the General Motors Corporation. Other sponsors have included the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. GMAC Financial Services, currently the program's largest corporate partner, has contributed over $2 million to the program over the course of the past eighteen years.

The Presidential Scholars Program is a nonpartisan, public-private partnership designed to recognize and provide leadership development experiences for some of America's most outstanding graduating high-school seniors. It is not a scholarship program, but it is one of the Nation's highest honors for high school students. The 141 students named annually as Presidential Scholars represent excellence in education and the promise of greatness in young people.

The Scholars travel to Washington, D.C. each June as guests of the program for National Recognition Week: five days of educational, celebratory and fellowship activities. Scholars participate in seminars, lectures and workshops with government officials, elected representatives, educators, authors, musicians, scientists and other accomplished people; perform community service; and attend cultural events and ceremonies held in their honor. During the week they forge friendships that often last a lifetime. The week culminates in a White House-sponsored event at which the Scholars are awarded the Presidential Medallion.