Dadfarin, 24, received her bachelor's degree in history from UCLA and will be continuing her education in CSUN's credential program.

Dadfarin said that she was ecstatic about winning.

"I can't believe it. I'm just so happy that everything went through and it's so amazing," she said. "This is going to be such a help."

Dadfarin was born in Iran and her family moved to Northern California when she was a young girl. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

The $5,000 scholarship Dadfarin received was made possible through the continued contributions of Edison International. At the height of the teacher shortage crisis in 1999, Edison stepped forward to commit $500,000 to help 100 economically and educationally disadvantaged students obtain teaching credentials.

Dadfarin is determined to have a career in teaching.

"I'm really looking forward to teaching. It's something that I really enjoy and I'll probably be working with sixth or seventh graders," she said.

California State University, Northridge has more than 32,000 full- and part-time students and offers 59 bachelor's and 41 master's degrees. Founded in 1958, it is the only four-year university in the San Fernando Valley and the third largest in the 23-campus CSU system. The Western Association of schools and Colleges recently said CSUN "stands as a model to other public urban institutions of higher learning."