The University of Vermont has joined a new national scholarship program aimed at motivating students to do well in high school and prepare better for college. Through an online program platform called Raise.me, students can now earn “micro-scholarships” from UVM starting in 9th grade for a wide range of individual achievements.
Students applying to UVM, for example, receive scholarships for taking advanced courses, raising their high school GPA and engaging in community service or leadership.
In addition to improving clarity and access around financial aid, the new program, which is receiving national attention from media like the PBS NewsHour, allows students to track specific goals they want to accomplish throughout high school, helping them become more competitive college applicants and more successful college students.
Raise.me is a social enterprise focused on expanding access to higher education, especially among low-income and first-generation students. Raise.me was developed in response to the fact that most scholarships and grants today are awarded by colleges at the very end of high school – after a student has already done well or not, applied to a college or not, and been accepted or not – which is often too late to impact a student’s college ambitions or choices.
“This is a very smart approach to motivating students to set their sights on college and to do the kinds of things in high school that will both earn them scholarship dollars and prepare them to succeed in higher education,” said Beth Wiser, director of admissions at the University of Vermont.
Raise.me has partnered with a diverse set of nearly 150 schools, including Notre Dame, Carnegie Mellon, Franklin and Marshall College, Georgia Tech, Penn State, Tulane, and Rollins College, in addition to UVM. Raise.me is free for students and also provides a free portal for high school counselors to help students track their progress.
Learn more at www.raise.me or by visiting the University of Vermont site at www.raise.me/edu/university-of-vermont.