Washington, DC--(HISPANIC PR WIRE PRNewswire)--January 22, 2008--The National Hispanic Press Foundation [NHP Foundation] and Fundación Azteca America, two non-profit organizations dedicated to providing essential information to young Hispanics pursuing higher education, announced today their partnership to promote an engaging new blog. The blog http://www.scholarshipforhispanics.blogspot.com is designed to further encourage young Hispanic students to pursue higher education  by connecting them to mentors, advisors and professionals with up-to-the minute dialogues relating to financial aid, high school preparation, college savings advice and professional insight.

The blog, which already features a post on how to register to optimize user-experience when navigating through our Scholarship Directory, will bolster content already available at http://www.scholarshipsforhispanics.com. Also featured on the blog, will be guest columns from national leaders on topics ranging from college entrance preparation to ways to finance higher education.

The foundations goal with the blog, scholarshipsforhispanics.blogspot.com, is to spread the word about scholarships available to Hispanics and share insight into securing a college education. With the addition of the blog, NHP Foundation hopes to provide a forum to share experiences between college degree holders and those students and families engaged in the pursuit of a higher education.

Each week we will highlight new topics on the directory home page to attract the attention of tens of thousands of unique visitors, mentors, and counselors, said Eddie Escobedo, NHP Foundation Chair. We feel that this will be a very helpful resource to everyone in the college planning and advising family.

"Keeping the youths of our community in school and considering college is one of the most pressing issues for the advancement of Latinos," said Luis J. Echarte, Chairman of Azteca America and Fundación Azteca America. "We're committed to this effort and excited to be teaming up with the NHP Foundation with this important initiative."

Aside from information on scholarship opportunities, NHP Foundation also offers information to prospective college students on services, organizations, high school preparation, college entrance test preparation, government loans and local scholarships that will help them secure their education.

The NHP Foundation facilitates the distribution of this information in detail through its website at http://www.scholarshipsforhispanics.org. According to Thomas Oliver, NHP Foundation President and CEO, the website attracts tens of thousands of hits and thousands of unique visitors each week.

The foundations online presence compliments its Educate print tabloid and its CD-Rom platforms. In partnership with Fundación Azteca Americas planned public service announcements set to air this spring, the NHP Foundation will add a broadcast platform to drive awareness.

Through its partnerships with Chicagos La Raza Newspaper and Brownsvilles El Periodico USA, the NHP Foundation helped distribute more than 250,000 copies of Educate, the newspaper insert featuring scholarships and college access advice specific to those regions. It is estimated that the Educate inserts reached more than 750,000 Hispanic readers this year in these cities combined.

The NHP Foundation, along with Fundación Azteca America and the support of Grupo Salinas and Chairman Ricardo B. Salinas, also offers an annual Scholarship Directory on CD-Rom containing clear, up-to-date scholarship information and college entrance advice for todays growing population of Hispanics headed toward higher education. The CD-Rom scholarship directories are free of charge, and are mailed directly to organizations, colleges, individuals who request them. These CD-Roms are also made available at career fairs. Over the past two years, the NHP Foundation has distributed more than 10,000 Scholarship Directory CD-Roms.

About The National Hispanic Press Foundation

The National Hispanic Press Foundation [NHP Foundation] is a non profit organization that concentrates on building awareness among Hispanic students and their families about accessing higher education. Our free, bilingual resources, available in English and Spanish, are designed to inform Hispanic families living in the United States about how to secure a college education. For more information, contact Salome Eguizabal by email at salome@scholarshipsforhispanics.org.

About Fundación Azteca America

Fundación Azteca America is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for members of the Hispanic community currently in the U.S.

At Fundación Azteca America, our philosophy is clear and simple: Respect the individual. Give back to society by improving health, nutrition, education and the environment. Empower the Hispanic community. Offer tools for self-improvement rather than charity. And live up to our core values. For more information, visit http://www.fundacionaztecaamerica.org.

About Azteca America

Azteca America is the fastest-growing Hispanic network in the United States. The network is a wholly owned subsidiary of TV Azteca S.A. de C.V., one of the two largest producers of Spanish-language television content in the world. Azteca America currently has presence in 61 markets throughout the United States.

Fundación Azteca America, Fundación Azteca, Azteca America and TV Azteca are companies of Grupo Salinas, a group of dynamic, fast-growing, and technologically advanced companies focused on creating shareholder value,building the Mexican middle class, and improving society through excellence. Created by Mexican entrepreneur Ricardo B. Salinas, Grupo Salinas also includes Grupo Elektra, Banco Azteca, Afore Azteca, Seguros Azteca, Grupo Iusacell and Azteca Internet.For more information, Visit http://www.aztecaamerica.com/corporate and http://www.gruposalinas.com.