PAYING IT FORWARD: A Guide for the College Journey
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
|July 2023
ScholarMatch helps low-income students make it all the way to graduation.
PROFILE
WHO: Karla Salazar
WHAT: Executive Director of ScholarMatch
WHERE: Los Angeles 183
What is ScholarMatch's mission? We support first-generation college students from low-income backgrounds to earn a bachelor's degree within five years. We provide virtual, individualized college success and career advising, financial support-up to $5,000 every year for up to four years-and emotional support. We place a lot of emphasis on mental health and mentoring all the way to graduation.
How did ScholarMatch come about? We were founded in 2010 by award-winning author Dave Eggers. We started as a crowdfunding platform for scholarships in San Francisco but quickly learned that we needed to evolve into a full-service college access and assistance organization with comprehensive services. Our services are entirely free to the students, and we're funded through a combination of individual donors, corporations and foundations.
This story is from the July 2023 edition of Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
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