A 501(c)3 corporation offering scholarships to college students for minimum commitment to a local At-Risk youth mentoring program.
Problem #1 - State Impact of High School Dropouts
• In California alone, over 100,000 high school students will dropout each year.
• 19% of all 9th grade students will dropout over the course of 4 years.
• For Hispanic and African-American students, the rate is 24% and 33%, respectively.
• Lower earnings of the dropouts will cost California over $1 Billion in lost State Tax Revenue
• Dropouts are less healthy, and will cost the State an additional $1 Billion/year in Medi-Care costs
• Dropouts add $1.4 Billion to the States incarceration costs. Problem #2 – College Costs and Loan Default Rates
• From 2003/04 to 2013/14 academic years, the UC tuition costs increased an average of 14%/Year.
• Student debt is increasing at an alarming rate each year as all college costs increase every year.
• Student loan defaults are now beginning to show up in large rates, and are causing the State to cancel loan programs at some schools with the highest rates.
• Tuition Rates are scheduled to increase 28% over the next 3 years at UC schools. Problem #3 – Low “Mentor to At-Risk Youth” Ratio
• At-Risk youth, grades 4-8, vastly outnumber the available, qualified mentors/tutors in all programs throughout the state.
• Mentoring/Tutoring, 1hr/week for one year is shown to improve the following for at-risk youth:
o Self-Esteem by 62%
o Grades by 48%
o Graduation Rate by 68%
• And reduces the following:
o Drug Use by 46%
o Alcohol Use by 27%
o Violence by 38%
A Win/Win/Win Solution
Billions of dollars, every year, are being spent by public and private entities to try and solve a myriad of social problems in the adult population, including but not limited to, homelessness, crime/incarceration, and health and welfare support. But, while these problems are being addressed, the next generation of these problems is being born and raised. “The Problem is on Our Streets, But the Solution is in Our Schools”
By offering an incentive, i.e., 1) Locked-in or reduced tuition cost over a 3year period, sophomore-senior years; 2) End of college student loan pay-offs; or; 3) Scholarships to incoming college students who will commit to some graduated, minimum hours/week/year of mentoring/tutoring, the student can better manage their college costs, the at-risk youth and the mentoring/tutoring programs will have access to highly qualified, age/gender/ethnicity relevant mentors/tutors, and the state will see a potential direct and indirect cost savings/income increase in the Billions of dollars. The Student Mentor Project
The Student Mentor Project would:
o Secure funding through one or more of the following sources:
• State of California
• Grants from donor organizations that focus on education and/or at-risk youth programs
• Individual donors through fund raising events
o Vet and Select qualified Mentoring/Tutoring Programs
o Promote the scholarship/tuition reduction program at UC/State/Private college campuses throughout California. o Set-up a monitoring and documentation system that would be used in evaluating and recording the mentor/tutor efforts and time. o Supply timely reports to all involved agencies, schools and donors documenting efficacy and progress of program.
