By: Jay Williams – President & CEO of Greater Hartford Gives
A scholarship is far more than a check.
At its best, it is a bridge to opportunity. A way for young people to move through college with less debt and more support; equipping them with greater choices upon graduation. Some may choose a path back to the communities that raised them. Others may choose to forge new paths elsewhere. The “win” here is that these graduates now have choices!
For too many Hartford students, college debt has become a river they are asked to cross even before their adult lives have begun.
Some 80 years ago, our Foundation began offering scholarships. That program was effective, and we were proud of it. But it was modest. It provided $3,000 a year, and with the rising cost of college today, that barely covers books.
So we asked ourselves: is it enough?
The answer was a resounding no!
In today’s college economy, students cannot get by with the earlier scholarship model. We needed to build something bold: a model that would allow our young talent to go anywhere in the world and still have the option to come home, purchase a first home, serve on a local board, or start a small business.
The Student Debt Crisis
College debt is not just a problem here. It is a national crisis. Over the last 20 to 25 years, college tuition has tripled, while student loans have doubled, and the burden is crushing the futures of not only our students, but our communities. And even when students make it to campus, too many are not earning a degree. (Alas, the only thing worse than graduating college with a mountain of student loan debt — is not graduating from college with a mountain of student loan debt.)
So, we began to look toward the structure surrounding a young person’s success. What does it take for a Hartford student to get to college, through college, and into a career without being buried by debt? How can we expand their life choices and opportunities when debt is not the biggest hurdle?
Money is not the only barrier to college success. Beyond financial assistance, students need support navigating a seemingly endless list of challenges: applications, financial aid, academic pressure, belonging, health, and internships, when life makes finishing feel impossible.
The question was not how to give more. It was how to build a scholarship model that addresses the array of student needs.
This is what led to the Greater Futures Scholarship Fund.
What is the Greater Futures Scholarship Fund
Through a partnership with Hartford Promise, qualifying Hartford Public Schoolsstudents can receive up to $25,000 a year, or as much as $100,000 over four years. For many, that creates the possibility of graduating debt-free. It comes, too, with 10 years of wraparound support, beginning in high school and continuing through college and into career.
We can help the students in front of us and strengthen the path for the students who will come after.
While we have long supported scholarships, the Foundation committed $20 million from our endowment and launched a $10 million campaign, the first in our history.
This is what a community foundation can do at its best. We can meet immediate needs, rally donors, and corporate partners, and multiply the impact of nonprofit partners that are already engaged in the work.
In our first cohort, we have heard from students like Aneesa, who wants to come home and start a small business in her North End neighborhood. From students like Emmanuela, who sees herself becoming a nurse, saving for her wedding, and welcoming her first child. And Tommy, who, like many students, worried about his parents taking on significant debt to pay for college.
“Knowing I can attend without putting that burden on my parents has taken away the stress I carried.”
This scholarship program gives every Hartford student who qualifies the ability to start life with options. It provides families with relief. Beyond that, it gives students like Isabel, a University of ConnecticutPolitical Science major, the confidence to imagine a future rooted in service.
“During the pandemic, I began to realize how much influence systems have over our lives,” Isabel said. “I want to help my community better understand how policy impacts us. I want to be of good use.”
College debt does not have to be the unnavigable river that separates Hartford’s young talent from the city they may one day invest in and lead.
The Greater Futures Scholarship, at its core, is a bridge to a realm of choices and transformative opportunities for our students and our region.