$7.6M Promotes Minority Higher Ed

 INDIANAPOLIS -- USA Funds, a nonprofit organization that helps American families benefit from postsecondary education, provided a total of more than $7.6 million to support programs that helped Americans prepare for and pursue higher education during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2010. USA Funds supported a variety of scholarship and outreach programs designed to help low-income students and families prepare for, access, pay for and succeed in higher education.

Scholarships. USA Funds Access to Education Scholarships® awarded nearly $1.9 million to help more than 1,274 low- to moderate-income students pay college expenses for the 2010-2011 academic year.

Minority-Focused Scholarship Organizations. USA Funds awarded $500,000 to five national scholarship organizations that promote access to higher education for minority students. For the ninth consecutive year, USA Funds awarded funds to theAmerican Indian College Fund, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the United Negro College Fund. For the third consecutive year, USA Funds also has awarded funds to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund.

College Goal Sunday. USA Funds is a major funder of College Goal Sunday events in Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana,Kansas, Maryland and Mississippi. College Goal Sunday offers students and parents free assistance in completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. In conjunction with College Goal Sunday, USA Funds published and distributed through major newspapers or directly to high schools USA Funds Countdown to College supplements, featuring financial aid and college admissions advice.

Early Awareness. During the year more than 32,000 students and their families benefitted from USA Funds' early awareness programs, USA Funds Unlock the Future® and USA Funds Consejos. These programs advise middle school students and their parents of the benefits of higher education and encourage them to make training or education after high school a part of their future plans. USA Funds Unlock the Future is an early awareness program designed to inform students and their families about the value of a postsecondary education. USA Funds Consejos is a similar program geared to Latino students and their families.

Enhancing Academic Success of African-American Males. Based on research that disclosed only 38 percent of African-American men graduate from high school in Indiana, USA Funds has designed an initiative to help increase academic achievement among African-American males in Central Indiana. This initiative supports character-building programs for young men, as well as college tours to encourage young African-American males to make college a reality. USA Funds awarded grants totaling more than $174,000 to eight Central Indiana organizations to this support initiative.

Learning Communities Initiative. USA Funds spearheads an initiative to improve postsecondary education access for low-income students in four communities. The Learning Communities Initiative works with communities in Arizona, Indiana,Mississippi and Washington, D.C. USA Funds awarded more than $622,500 to support the Learning Communities with infrastructure, programming, college tours and scholarships.

Symposium for Minority-Serving Institutions. For the 10th consecutive year, USA Funds is supporting a symposium that brings together administrators from minority-serving postsecondary institutions to discuss and develop action plans for enhancing student retention and success. More than 130 faculty and administrators participated in the most recent symposium, "Institutional Practices to Support Student Success."

College Access Challenge Grants. USA Funds and its affiliate NELA® have partnered with the states of Indiana, Maryland,Mississippi, Nevada, Oregon and Washington to provide in-kind support and services as part of the federal College Access Challenge Grant program. USA Funds is working with each state to help offer programming, products and services.

"USA Funds focuses its grant-making on promoting awareness of, preparation for, access to and success in higher education for underserved low-income middle and high school students, students of color and first-generation postsecondary students," said Robert C. Ballard, senior vice president, access and outreach. "These awards help open the door to higher education for students who otherwise might not benefit from a college degree."

Headquartered in Indianapolis, USA Funds is a nonprofit corporation that works to enhance postsecondary education preparedness, access and success by providing and supporting financial and other valued services.