Very simply, Central Scholarship strives to make post-secondary education and career training more affordable for low-income Maryland students.

We award more than $1 million each year in scholarships and interest-free loans to low-income students from throughout Maryland who are pursuing degree and non-degree post-secondary education and training. We reach students through an electronic database we created in-house, that connects us to colleges, high schools, nonprofits, and any individual or organization who has elected to receive our email blasts announcing scholarship opportunities. Students apply through an online application service. We offer College Cash®, our free financial education series, with current offerings, “Finding Money for College" and "A Parent's Guide to Finding and Funding College". Programs were developed and are delivered by our staff experts. Our Student Loan Pay-Down Program provides $30,000 in student loan relief to one lucky student recipient each year, pre-qualified but chosen at random, at our annual student awards ceremony. Through our Advocacy Program, we work at the state level to support legislation that will improve the lives of low-income students as related to affordability of post-secondary education and training. We are uniquely positioned for this type of work because we do not receive any government funding; our funding is completely private. Our current focus is restricting scholarship award displacement.

Our President and our Special Program Advisor have a combined 50+ years of experience in higher education and financial aid. Our Vice President is a lifelong political activist, who drives our advocacy program and our College Cash® Program. Our Development Director is an expert on poverty issues and resource development. She ran a pre-school for homeless children under the age of six and a reentry program for ex-offenders. Our program managers are experts in financial aid, career training, and data analysis. Our Stewardship and Annual Fund Manager drives public relations, social networking, web development, events, and our annual fund. Our Board of Directors is deeply committed to our mission, and provides resources and expertise that allow us to fulfill our mission year in and year out, since 1924.

We look at a variety of measures to determine if we are making the grade -- number of student applications, completion of degree or training program, amount of money raised, feedback from the community, etc. The most objective measure to gauge the success of our student program is research conducted by the Jacob France Institute at the University of Baltimore. We follow our students in the unemployment system after completion of their certificate or degree. This analysis tells us whether they are working, if they are working in the field they pursued when they received funding from us, and if there is upward movement in their earnings over time. Now that most colleges and universities are participating in the National Student Clearinghouse, we are also following our college students to determine if they completed their degree.

We've been very successful at building our electronic outreach program and feel reasonably comfortable about our visibility in the student world in Maryland for both degree and non-degree programs. We have been successful at raising money although we never have enough to come close to meeting the demand. Expanding the reach of College Cash® is extremely important. The only way for students and families to manage the student loan burden is to “Know Before They Go. " The most basic information, such as understanding the cost of going to an in-state college versus out-of-state college, deciphering the college student awards letter, finishing college in four years instead of six, and more, is simply not being conveyed, in fact, it isn't even a consideration for many working directly with college-bound high school students. We are working hard to educate our constituents about the forces affecting college affordability. The frenzy around college for all makes no sense, given the under-performing K-12 system and a job market that requires higher level skills and abilities. Selective colleges compete for the best students; some manipulate private scholarships to advance their own mission. Maryland is now the first state in the nation to restrict scholarship award displacement at 4-year public universities. This legislation was introduced at our request, and we were the lead advocates. Additionally, we now have an annual written agreement with 13 private colleges in Maryland, restricting scholarship award displacement for our recipients. We will continue to work on this issue in Maryland. Non-selective colleges, strapped for cash, often admit students who do not have the capacity to complete a college program. Students either drop out or are pushed through so that colleges can maintain the tuition income. These students are saddled with loan debt they cannot pay off, and often have credentials that do not lead to employment. This is a topic for the future.