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Help Bay Area Youth Afford College

uAspire Removes the Financial Barriers to a College Education for Bay Area Youth

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Help Bay Area Youth Afford College

Help Bay Area Youth Afford College

Help Bay Area Youth Afford College

Help Bay Area Youth Afford College

Help Bay Area Youth Afford College

uAspire Removes the Financial Barriers to a College Education for Bay Area Youth

uAspire Removes the Financial Barriers to a College Education for Bay Area Youth

uAspire Removes the Financial Barriers to a College Education for Bay Area Youth

uAspire Removes the Financial Barriers to a College Education for Bay Area Youth

Simone Shorter
Simone Shorter
Simone Shorter
Simone Shorter
1 Campaign |
Bay Area, United States
$8,630 USD 54 backers
57% of $15,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

Enable us to provide a full academic year of one-on-one college affordability advising to a classroom of more than 30 uAspire students!

In California, just 35% of four-year college students graduate within four years, and less than half of community college students complete a two-year degree or transfer to a four-year college within six years. Finances are routinely noted as a key barrier to college success.

Why does uAspire exist?

As you may have experienced, navigating the complex process of financing college is challenging. Students with college-educated parents and school counselors supporting them find it tricky. For students from low- and moderate-income communities, who often don’t have any of those resources, the situation is much harder. 

While there are ways to make college affordable, many of the neediest students must navigate this process on their own.

uAspire works to remove the financial barriers to college access and success. Through our college affordability services, we ensure that students from all backgrounds enroll in college and complete college without burdensome debt.

uAspire makes it a priority to support the students who need us most—particularly those from low- and moderate-income socioeconomic backgrounds and those who will be in the first generation of their family to graduate from college. To that end, uAspire offers its services in partner schools and after-school programs that predominantly serve these students. 

             

Finances are often a key barrier to accessing and completing a college education. You can help each young person in one classroom reach his or her college aspirations!

Nationally, the number of student borrowers and the size of their loans grew 70% from 2004 to 2012. Today, 13.7% of student-loan holders default on paying their loans.

Thanks to your support...

A classroom of more than 30 high school seniors will receive one-on-one college affordability advising from a uAspire Advisor. The core components of this individualized advising are:

  1. Planning Session: 

    -  Teach each senior about the types of financial aid (grants, scholarships, and loans) and ensure that their college list includes at least one “financial safety school.”

    -  Learn the student’s unique financial situation to best prepare and assist him or her with the financial aid process.

  2. FAFSA Completion and Certification:

    -  Ensure that each senior accurately completes the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the California Dream Act (which allows undocumented students to access state aid) to leverage all possible aid for which they are eligible.

  3. Financial Aid Award Letter Review:

    -  Help each senior understand the financial aid packages they have been offered and make a well-informed, affordable college choice.

Research has shown that even small increases (such as $1000) in grant aid increase a student’s likelihood of completing college.

Oh the places you'll go! 

Our experience has shown that providing students with college affordability guidance can remove the financial barriers to higher education. 

Your support empowers a classroom of more than 30 students to receive all the necessary resources and information to find an affordable path to and through college. Ultimately, our advising positions young adults to move into the workforce with the education required to attain economic self-sufficiency.

                      

Across our sites, 65% of uAspire’s Class of 2013 advisees enrolled in college the fall after high school graduation, compared to 53% of low-income students nationally within 18 months of graduation. And in two cities, uAspire students enrolled in college at more than twice the rate of non-uAspire seniors at the same high schools. 

uAspire students also persist in college. In fall 2012, 89% of college freshmen who had, as twelfth graders, completed uAspire's three signature advising activities re-enrolled for a second year.

You can help us grow our impact!

Your funds will support one classroom of uAspire students. In addition, many more students need our services. You can help us get to all of them.

This school year, we’re supporting almost 40 classrooms of high school seniors with our one-on-one services! We are doing this work through partnerships with San Francisco Unified School District, Envision Education, Aspire Public Schools, and BUILD.

There are more than 12,000 low-income high school seniors annually in the six communities from San Francisco to San Jose that we hope to be in five years from now. 

Appreciations

We sincerely appreciate the supporters who have helped get uAspire started in the Bay Area:

Founding Board Members:
Casey Johnson, Ruben Orduña, Melissa Williams, Simon Rycraft, and Mark Alper

Founding Investors:
GreenLight Fund, Peery Foundation, TG Philanthropy, Westly Foundation, Innovate Foundation, Bank of America, The San Francisco Foundation, The Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and numerous individuals.

P.S.  Take advantage of some of the fun perks on the right side of our page! Get something for yourself or share with someone else.

Perk Spotlight:


"Summer melt" occurs when students have been admitted to and declared a college but don’t end up enrolling the fall after high school graduation. Why? The summer months require students to undertake crucial tasks that, if not completed, are a barrier to successful college enrollment--particularly for first-generation and low-income students. In some areas of the country, up to 44 percent of college-intending students fall off track. The book includes research on and best practices from uAspire's summer outreach to college-intending students through an innovative text-message based platform.

Click here for more information on the book. 

Looking for more information? Check the project FAQ
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Choose your Perk

A Thank You from the Class

$25 USD
Receive a personalized thank you card from uAspire seniors. They appreciate everything you do to help make their college aspirations a reality.
10 claimed

Shout-out on Social Media

$50 USD
Get your company name in lights on our Twitter and Facebook pages!
1 claimed

Financial Aid Resource Guide

$75 USD
Receive "Dollars for College," an interactive financial aid resource guide that America’s Promise Alliance and uAspire, with support from the Citi Foundation, launched to promote greater access to higher education. This resource guide helps students and families understand all the available resources and options that can make higher education affordable.
2 out of 5 of claimed

Read How We Avoid Summer Melt

$100 USD
Receive "Summer Melt: Supporting Low-Income Students Through the Transition to College" by Benjamin Castleman and Lindsay Page. It includes research on uAspire’s innovative text-message based model to reach college-intending students over the summer before freshman year. Summer is crucial for college-bound youth, as many who have been admitted and intend to go to college don’t end up enrolling. The problem disproportionately affects low-income students. Read about how to avoid summer melt!
1 out of 5 of claimed

Thanks + Shout-out + Tumbler

$125 USD
Receive a personalized thank you card from uAspire seniors, a shout-out on our Twitter and Facebook pages, and a 22-ounce uAspire tumbler!
0 out of 50 of claimed

Virtual Student Support

$250 USD
uAspire uses technology to support students beyond college graduation! Fund one month of of our innovative text-message based outreach platform for 125 uAspire students, who will throughout college receive text messages with reminders of important tasks they must complete to maintain their financial aid and stay enrolled in college.
0 claimed

1-1 FAFSA/Dream Act Assistance

$250 USD
Contribute to our campaign in honor of #GivingTuesday and receive one-on-one FAFSA assistance from a uAspire expert for a student you know. The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is required by ALL colleges and opens on January 1, 2015. Financial aid is first come, first serve. Don't miss an opportunity to get this form completed with a uAspire expert! *Student receiving assistance must be in San Francisco Bay Area.
0 out of 5 of claimed

Family Financial Aid Workshop

$500 USD
This perk is available for a limited time only! Get assistance for yourself or give a gift to others. Contribute to our campaign in honor of #GivingTuesday to sponsor a Financial Aid Workshop in which a group of up to 25 Bay Area students and parents get an overview of the financial aid process from a uAspire expert. Don't miss the opportunity to give back to your community! *Must be in San Francisco Bay Area
0 out of 2 of claimed

FAFSA/Dream Act Assistance

$1,000 USD
Know a group of college-bound students who need help applying for financial aid? Receive FAFSA fill-in assistance from a uAspire expert for a group you support. The uAspire expert will guide the group through the the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the California Dream Act (which allows undocumented students to access state aid) to ensure that they leverage all possible financial aid. *Must be in San Francisco Bay Area.
0 out of 1 of claimed

VIP Table at uAspire First One

$5,000 USD
A seat at the table with our First One Award Winners at Our First One Award Celebration on January 29. This event demonstrates the power of uAspire’s mission by celebrating successful leaders in our community who have been in the first generation of their family to graduate from college.
0 out of 5 of claimed
sold out

Personal Finance Session

$150 USD
1 out of 1 of claimed

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