Source of Money 22: A Better Chance Especially for Minority Students

Tuesday’s we review a source of financial aid to help you pay for college

Melvin represents hundreds of thousands of minority students each year who get to attend college because of scholarships. Education has not been equally available to all Americans. Melvin worked very hard in high school, but his inner city school lacked excellent teachers. Instead, he learned from good people who worked in extremely difficult situations for less pay than they deserved. Gangs and other influences conspired to prevent Melvin from graduating, let alone going to college. Yet, he graduated well and earned enough scholarships to allow him to attend a respectable state college. He received a good education thanks to the generosity of those who donate to scholarship funds.

History of A Better Chance

The web site www.abetterchance.org describes A Better Chance history and demographics as

“In 1963 at the height of the civil rights movement, 23 headmasters of selective independent schools made a mutual commitment to change the profiles and compositions of their student bodies.  Through A Better Chance, they would broaden their enrollment to include students of color who were economically disadvantaged but academically able.  Chosen for their motivation and demonstrated achievement, 55 students from low-income families were selected to complete their secondary education at these founding independent schools.

A Better Chance Scholars are a racially diverse group.  Approximately 65% are African-American; 20% Latino; 6% Asian American; about 1% Native American; and 8% describe themselves as multi-racial or other.  Approximately one-third live at or below the federal poverty line, and virtually all come from working class families.  More than 65% of our Scholars come from single-parent households.  A Better Chance has grown from 55 students enrolled at nine schools to nearly 1,900 students enrolled in 2008/2009 school year.”

Offerings from the Web Site

The web site offers:

• Application information
• A list of participating schools
• A PDF Resource Guide
• List of organizations that assist young children and their families, another for high school, and another for college students
• Ability to donate to the fund

Thursday we review how reusable materials describe why you deserve the scholarships