ScholarMatch Inc.

Note: The organization did not respond to this question.

Note: The organization did not respond to this question.

ScholarMatch invests in the growth of our staff's expertise in the field and leadership development in many ways, including supporting their engagement at a variety of conferences, working groups, and roundtables focused on college access and success. We support our staff's involvement with leading industry associations including the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, the Western Association for College Admissions Counseling, and the National Scholarship Providers Association. In the last year, multiple members of our team received leadership development support through mentorship pods with the Bay Area College Success Network. During this mentorship period, staff gathered with other college access & success professionals on a bi-monthly basis for mentorship, networking, and thought partnership to foster best practices in the field.

ScholarMatch endeavors to engage with the communities we serve through strategic partnerships with schools, other nonprofit organizations, funders, and individuals. We currently work with 24 funding partners who support our scholarship programs and college access work, as well as provide workshops and resources to more than 25 high schools. ScholarMatch also has a dedicated community of over 500 volunteers who support our students as college and career coaches. We are deeply engaged in training and developing the skills and knowledge of our volunteer community, and are actively engaged in local and national college access organizations. Our work has been featured in the New York Times, Fast Company, the San Francisco Chronicle, and more.

With many regions now offering free community college tuition, it has become a cost effective choice for some students to begin their college journey at a community college and transfer to a four-year school. There are 2.1M community college students in California alone. Approximately 75% of these community college students come from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities, and 64% of students across the community college system are classified as Perkins Economically Disadvantaged. This is a primary demographic of students we serve and we find that frequently students express curiosity in community college options as well as four-year universities. While ScholarMatch has traditionally focused its efforts on supporting students applying to and attending four-year schools, we realized that there was a significant need for college access, transfer, and persistence support for students who begin their learning at a community college and chose to take action. Resources for students who plan on attending community college and transfer to an institution that grants a BA are often scarce. In fact, the Aspen Institute reports that up to 80% of students who attend community college aspire to a bachelor’s degree. However, these aspirations rarely come to fruition given that only 31% of community college students transfer to a four year school, and just 14% graduate with a bachelors in six years. To ensure that the students we serve who plan to attend community college are able to successfully earn a four-year degree, ScholarMatch is actively developing resources and refining our programming and college coach training curricula to offer additional support to this important demographic of students. This work is in early stages and will unfold over the coming years. Since community college transfer students have been traditionally underrepresented within those served by college access and persistence organizations, we are committed to changing this.