Automatic scholarships: New way to impact college planning

http://www.savingforcollege.com/articles/automatic-scholarships-new-way-to-impact-college-planning-719

CEO of Raise.me, Guest Contributor.

It’s no secret that equal access to higher education has become one of the greatest challenges of our time. We started Raise.me to improve college access and help close the education gap by reinventing the way students access billions of dollars each year in scholarships and grants. Today, most scholarships are awarded at the end of high school - far too late to influence a student's college ambitions or application decisions. Starting as early as 9th grade, students on Raise.me can earn Micro-Scholarships towards participating colleges automatically for each of their achievements throughout high school. So far, 60 colleges across the country have created Micro-Scholarship programs, and more colleges are launching programs each month.

Here’s how it works: students on Raise.me can earn automatic scholarships towards as many Raise.me partner colleges as they like with every milestone they achieve. Students see a list of goals recommended by colleges, and can enter their achievements into a Raise.me portfolio, where their earnings are instantly displayed. Students’ homepage contains a live feed of their earnings that continuously updates as students add their achievements each semester. Students “cash-in” by submitting their Raise.me portfolio to a college partner where they have been accepted and choose to attend. That college then automatically adds the student's Micro-Scholarships to their financial aid package.

For example, the University of Rochester enables students to earn up to $500 for each A they receive, and $1,000 for taking an AP Course. Tulane University awards students $250 for participating in an extracurricular or sport, and $1,000 for having a leadership position in either activity. Each college may also have parameters around which students are able to see and earn their Micro-Scholarships.

The Raise.me platform incentivizes students to perform well in school while giving them an inside look at what colleges value in applicants. Most importantly, students who had previously not considered college a financially feasible option can see what they need to do throughout high school to be accepted and afford attending that college.

One of the most overwhelming aspects of the “college search” for students is often navigating each college website. Figuring out where to find all the important information to be a competitive candidate can be tricky. For example, where is the minimum GPA, average SAT/ACT score, tuition price, the official net price, acceptance rate, and demographic located on each site? It’s not surprising that students often give up while trying to find the majority of this information — it’s a lot to keep track of! Raise.me has made college navigation easier for students, giving them the opportunity to follow and learn about colleges throughout the country, regardless of whether they offer a Micro-Scholarship program. Each Raise.me college page shows students relevant information on each college, including minimum GPA, average ACT/SAT scores, tuition price… etc. The information is easy to understand, transparent, and most importantly, in one location!

Raise.me offers students an ideal combination - unlimited access to info on colleges across the country AND an understanding of what’s needed to earn scholarships towards those schools. So far, colleges have made available over $250 million in Micro-Scholarships as part of their commitment to making aid more transparent, predictable, and motivational for students. We expect it to continue to grow rapidly over the coming years!

Preston Silverman is CEO & Co-Founder of Raise.me, an online platform that is reinventing the way students access college scholarships. Preston was inspired to start Raise.me while teaching economics at a high school in India. Since its founding in 2012, Raise.me has received funding and support from the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Imagine K12.