Happy New Year!

February 2021 Newsletter

This week, our high school seniors are turning in their Fulfillment Fund Scholarship applications. As a part of our College Success Program, each year, we award an average of 60 new students tuition scholarships and another 30 are granted textbook stipends. Last year, we awarded 313 scholarships totaling over $325,000 to help our students pay for college. The scholarship also encourages them to persist in their degree programs by requiring them to continue to meet certain criteria to renew funding each year for up to four years.

Our College Success Program extends the bond students develop with us during high school, providing ongoing guidance and connections to campus resources to help them persist in and graduate from college and embark on a path towards career success. Beyond our scholarships, our services include:

  • College Success Initiative, providing continued one-on-one advising
  • Fulfillment Fund University, preparing high school graduates for their first year of college
  • Peer Mentoring, leadership opportunity for third- and fourth-year college students to engage and support their peers just starting their college journey
  • Transfer Scholars Program, for students moving from 2-year to 4-year institutions
  • Career Readiness Initiatives, workshops and webinars that help our students prepare for the job market
  • Alumni Association, support and networking opportunities for Fulfillment Fund graduates

90% of our College Success students persisted in the pursuit of their degrees or graduated by the summer of 2020, thanks to the close and meaningful bonds Fulfillment Fund staff maintains with our students. That’s more than eight times the national average —only 11%— of youth from low-income families attain a bachelor’s degree, in contrast to 58% among high-income families.

We have been growing our efforts in our College Success program because we believe that education is key to breaking the cycle of poverty and that it’s not enough just to support students to get into college. We need to do more to support college completion. College graduates have an increased earning potential of up to $1 million over a lifetime and are more likely to be healthy and live longer than those without a college education.

The evolution of College Advising during COVID

Advising During COVID

Students in our College Success Program come to us for academic advising, transfer resources, and career planning, but a lot of what we address revolves around navigating college and the effects of mounting academic and social pressures. They value the opportunity to talk about being mentally and emotionally prepared for the new challenges of online learning and how they are doing in the pandemic overall. Read more.

Financial Aid Webinar

Financial Aid Workshops

As a part of our College Access Program, our counselors have been hosting workshops for students to explore their financial aid options while getting assistance on their FAFSA/Dream Act and scholarship applications. Students from low-income communities face financial barriers that prevent them from applying or going to college. We are making sure they have access to this information to mitigate the loss of students going to college. Watch our Financial Aid Webinar.

Read more about our counselors!

National School Counseling Week

This week we are celebrating “School Counselors: All in for All Students.” Counselors are the unsung heroes who actively engage in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. They work with parents as they encounter the challenges of raising children in today’s world and focus on positive ways to enhance students’ academic, postsecondary, and social/emotional development. Read more.

December Homecoming

Student Engagement: Homecoming

It's important to find moments where we can come together and celebrate our students. Normally, at the end of the winter semester, we have hosted homecoming events for our students. This year was a little different, but our students still showed up. Over 60 students attended our virtual game day, which included our Peer Mentors leading smaller break out rooms where they shared their experiences at college during the pandemic. Follow us on Instagram for the latest student events.

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