Who it's for
First-generation students
The first in their family to attend college, with a special welcome to Vietnamese-American applicants.
When you drink from the stream, remember its source.
The Bùi Foundation turns one family's gratitude into scholarships for students who are the first in their family to reach college — and for young people carrying the Vietnamese story forward.
A debt to the past that can only be paid forward.
Our family arrived with little and left with an education — the one thing that couldn't be taken back. And every degree in this family began with someone else's generosity: a teacher who stayed late, a stranger who covered a fee, a country that opened a door.
We can't repay the people who helped us. Most of them we could never find again. So we do the next best thing — we help the student coming up behind us.
The Bùi Foundation is a small, family-run fund with one job: keep that current moving. When you drink from the stream, you remember its source — and then you make sure the stream keeps running for the next person who's thirsty.
We would rather do one thing every year for decades than something big once. Consistency is the promise.
Gifts go to tuition, books, and fees — paid straight to the school. The family covers what it costs to run the fund.
We're brand new, and we'll always tell you exactly what's built, what's coming, and what isn't ready yet.
One scholarship, kept every year and grown as the fund grows. Small and dependable beats large and abandoned.
The first in their family to attend college, with a special welcome to Vietnamese-American applicants.
Applied to tuition, books, or fees and paid directly to the student's school.
Applications open each spring. The inaugural Bùi Scholar is chosen this year.
How it works: a student applies with a short essay, a small family committee reads every one, and the award is paid straight to the school's bursar — never in cash. There's no application fee, and there never will be. If the fund grows, the award grows or a second scholarship is added; we'd rather deepen what we can keep than promise what we can't.
We would rather award one scholarship for twenty years than twenty scholarships for one.
At the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, the names of scholars who passed the imperial examinations were carved into stone stelae, each set on the back of a stone turtle, so their achievement would outlast them. This is our small stele. Each year, the name of a Bùi Scholar is added.
This stele is waiting for its first name.
Fund the inaugural scholarship, and a student's name is carved here in 2026.
We're at the very beginning — no gifts have come in yet, and that's exactly why this moment matters. The first supporters are the ones who turn an idea into a real scholarship a student can hold.
Online giving isn't switched on yet; we're setting it up carefully so every dollar is accounted for. Until then, the door is open the simplest way there is: email us and we'll personally walk you through giving.
What a gift will do
Figures show our intended award, not money raised. We'll publish real totals once giving opens.
An honest snapshot. We'll keep this current as each piece comes online.
A quick, honest note: The Bùi Foundation is a newly forming family fund. Until our nonprofit status is confirmed, gifts are not tax-deductible — we'll update this the day that changes.
No polish required. We're looking for students who are reaching, not students who already have everything they need.
Applications for 2026 open this spring. The online form is still being built — but you don't have to wait. Email us now and we'll send you the questions directly, and make sure you're the first to know when applications open. One short essay, no fee, ever.
Email us about applying →We're new, so a few things aren't clickable yet. Here's exactly how it stands — nothing hidden.
Not through a button yet — our secure online giving is still being set up. But you can absolutely give today: email us and we'll walk you through it personally. Founding donors are how the first scholarship happens.
Not yet. We're a newly forming family fund and our nonprofit registration is still in progress, so gifts aren't tax-deductible at the moment. We'll say so clearly — and update this page — the day that changes.
A family, hands-on and small. This started as gratitude for the people who helped us get an education, and it's run the same way — personally, carefully, one scholarship at a time.
Every donated dollar goes to students — tuition, books, and fees, paid directly to the school, never in cash. The family covers the small costs of running the fund, so giving isn't diluted by overhead.
Applications for 2026 open this spring. The online form is still being built, so for now just email us — we'll send you the questions and make sure you're first to hear when it opens. There's never an application fee.
Because we'd rather be honest than look bigger than we are. A donation link you can trust and a real application form are worth doing properly. Until they're ready, one email reaches a real person who will help — that's the whole foundation right now, and we like it that way.