2 ASU student-athletes selected for Pac-12 Postgraduate Scholarship

Nicole Soto, a member of the Arizona State University Women’s Soccer team, and Elijah Warren, an ASU swimmer, have been selected as the university’s recipients of the Pac-12 Postgraduate Scholarship for the 2021–22 academic year, the conference recently announced.

The Pac-12 annually awards 24 outstanding student-athletes — two from each school in the conference — with a scholarship worth $9,000 to go toward graduate school. Selected student-athletes maintained a minimum 3.0 grade point average and demonstrated a commitment to education, campus and community involvement and leadership.

Soto graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in business (law) with honors from ASU's Barrett, The Honors College in May. She completed her degree in less than four years.

Across three seasons for the Sun Devils, the Long Beach, California, native appeared in 17 games, averaging a career-best 35.8 minutes per game as a freshman in 2019.

Warren was a regular for the Sun Devil Men's Swimming team in each of the past three seasons. As a sophomore in 2020, he achieved a pair of top-20 finishes at the Pac-12 Championships, placing 11th in the 100 breast and 19th in the 200 breast.

He was also a member of the 200 medley relay group that currently owns the second-fastest time in program history (1:22.75). He graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in exercise and wellness and honors from Barrett Honors College in May.

Both Soto and Warren are still determining where they will attend graduate school.

ASU Sun Devil swimmer Elijah Warren recently was awarded the Pac-12 Post Graduate Scholarship. Photo courtesy ASU Athletics

To be selected for a 2021–22 Pac-12 Postgraduate Scholarship, a student-athlete must have:

• Maintained an overall undergraduate minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.00 (based on a 4.00 scale).
• Been accepted to or already be enrolled as a full-time student in a graduate or professional program at an accredited institution, or in a postgraduate program for which an undergraduate degree is required for admission.
• Performed with distinction as a member of a varsity team.
• Exemplified behavior, both in competition and beyond, in a manner that has brought credit to the student-athlete, the institution and intercollegiate athletics.

Student-athletes awarded this scholarship plan to pursue postgraduate education in graduate programs at some of the most prestigious institutions in the world, including several Pac-12 universities. They will study everything from medicine and architecture to business, nursing, engineering, education, finance and more.

In 1999, the Postgraduate Scholarship Program was created to both honor and financially assist some of the conference’s most outstanding athletes and scholars as they continue their educations and prepare for careers in their chosen industries. The Pac-12 annually awards up to 24 scholarships of $9,000 each to former and graduating student‐athletes across the conference. Through an institutional selection process, each Pac-12 institution may select two student-athletes to be awarded the scholarship.