Dive Brief:
- A nonprofit started by author Dave Eggers serves hundreds of students every year and has helped them crowdfund more than $1,000,000 for their own educations.
- EdSurge reports that San Francisco-based ScholarMatch mentors first-generation, low-income high schoolers to help them find colleges that fit their needs holistically, rather than just academically, and offers a crowdfunding platform for them to raise money.
- ScholarMatcher, a national counterpart, launched in May, offering an easy-to-use, online database filled with 296 schools chosen based on financial aid support, academic rigor, student services, and strong graduate outcomes, according to the article.
Dive Insight:
The ScholarMatcher platform helps students expand their horizons, learn about schools they never would have found on their own, and focus on important measures of student support that matter for low-income and first-generation students. The guidance is meant to fill the void caused by lack of intergenerational college experience in their immediate families and nonexistent or subpar mentoring by high school counselors. Several organizations nationwide focus on such metrics, helping first-generation students not only get into good schools but attend schools where they are most likely to graduate and succeed.