Glow Foundation

Glow FY2010 Program in Full Swing with Two New Partners

billy — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:27:39 +0000

Glow FY2010 Program in Full Swing with Two New Partners: Latino College Preparatory Academy (at National Hispanic University) and Mission Graduates

About 150 students have already received Glow’s financial education training this fall with the new FY2010 program year. We are also excited to bring Glow’s program to two new partner organizations – National Hispanic University’s Latino College Preparatory Academy (at National Hispanic University, San Jose) and Mission Graduates (San Francisco).

Ashleigh, one of our new Glow students at City Arts and Technology High School this year, wants to major in English at New York University. “Glow has given me an opportunity to get excited about college again. I recently began to fear I wouldn’t be able to pay a college tuition with my family’s income. Glow has given me the kind of resources I can use on my own to help better my own chances of being a successful college bound student.”

Glow Posted a New Blog Entry!

elena — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:54:29 +0000

Scramble to Fill a Gap Between College Cost and Need - NY Times

elena — Sat, 09 May 2009 18:30:24 +0000

New York Times Article

May 1, 2009

Goal Is College. Hurdle Is Finding Financial Aid.

By JACQUES STEINBERG

LOS ANGELES — Each afternoon this spring, Brennan Jackson, an A-student who ranks near the top of his high school class, has arrived at his guidance counselor’s office to intercept the latest scholarship applications, as if they were a newspaper landing on his front stoop.

Because his father is out of work and his mother works only part time, Brennan has set an ambitious goal for himself: to raise the $25,000 he still needs for his freshman year at the University of California, Berkeley, by stitching together a quilt of merit scholarships.

“We need to spread our resources as far as possible,” he said the other night, over a family dinner of reheated eggplant parmigiana. “I guess I feel a little responsible.”

The stress has taken its toll: Brennan’s guidance counselor blames it for the boy’s thinning hair, and Brennan points to his scholarship search as the cause of a recent outbreak of acne.

While Brennan’s situation, and the remedy he is pursuing, may sound extremely ambitious, guidance counselors across the country say they can recall no prior year in which so many applicants’ families have been squeezed by so many financial pressures.

Not only have families’ incomes been falling as their savings have dwindled, but also tuition has been rising — including proposed increases of nearly 10 percent next year throughout the University of California system. (Brennan would face bills nearly as high as Berkeley’s at the University of California campuses in Los Angeles and Davis, the only other colleges to accept him; Stanford, a private university that typically offers full scholarships to families with incomes under $60,000, rejected him. Berkeley offered him only $212 in scholarship money.)

While private colleges have vowed to protect financial aid in hard times, some of the most reliable independent scholarship programs have been reduced or discontinued this year — including some that lost parts of their endowments to Bernard L. Madoff’s vast Ponzi scheme — further raising the competition for those that remain.

Interest rates on student loans, including on popular federal programs like the unsubsidized Stafford (now nearly 7 percent) and Parent Plus (8.5 percent), are running several percentage points higher than the rates on secured loans, like home equity lines of credit.

“The difference of rates between secured and unsecured loans is higher than I have ever seen,” said Scott White, director of counseling services at Westfield High School in New Jersey. “This is one further impediment to access to post-secondary education for all but the well-to-do.”

Judy Campbell, Brennan’s guidance counselor at Hollywood High School, where three of every four students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch, suggested that his family was “not poor enough for need-based aid and not rich enough to write a check.”

When asked over dinner whether she felt guilty that Brennan had taken so much upon himself, his mother, Caryn, began to cry. “We didn’t expect to end up in this situation,” she said.

Tuition, board and other expenses at Berkeley are estimated at $27,000 a year. Last year, the family’s income was $58,000, when Ms. Jackson’s wages from teaching were combined with revenue from a part of a rental property. The family cannot sell the property because it does not own it outright, and Ms. Campbell believes that the investment reduced the direct aid Brennan might have received.

Brennan’s father, Aaron, who was laid off as an accountant more than a year ago, acknowledged that his son had few options. He said his lack of steady income prevented the family from refinancing the $500,000 mortgage on its cramped, nearly 90-year-old, two-bedroom home or taking on additional debt.

Mr. Jackson said his job search had been frustrating: he said he had been deemed overqualified for some jobs in recent months, and underqualified for others. His previous job with a real estate company paid about $75,000 annually.

Which is not to say that the family has not been doing its part to offset its expenses.

They have reduced visits to the dentist from twice a year to once; saved $45 a month in groomers’ fees by trimming their two dogs themselves; returned one of their cars, a Honda CRV on a lease, to the dealer; stopped eating in restaurants; and deferred home repairs.

As May 1, the day his $100 deposit was due at Berkeley, was drawing near, Brennan said he had netted about $1,500 in outside scholarships, mostly from the California Scholarship Federation, a statewide organization. He is also a finalist for a scholarship from the Rotary Club of Los Angeles that could be worth $2,000. And he was preparing to submit his application for a $5,000 grant from an organization called D.R.E.A.M.S. (Developing a Responsible, Educated and Moral Society). “Five thousand dollars isn’t a small contribution,” Brennan said. But even with that infusion, he said, his situation “would still be problematic.”

He said he had been filling out two applications a night, most of them requiring original essays, for more than month.

The only part-time jobs he has found are as a baby sitter and as a student poll worker in a statewide special election in mid-May. (His pay for that day’s work — which, a form letter from the county clerk assured, “looks great on college/scholarship applications” — will be $105.)

While many of the scholarship organizations will not send out their decisions until later this spring, or even in the summer, Brennan said he knew he could tap one additional source should he come up short: the $15,000 remaining in a college savings account his father had established for him, which had been worth upward of $30,000 less than a year ago. The problem, he said, was that the account had been intended to last four years.

Then there is the matter of his sister, Elise, 16, a junior who will be applying to college next year, meaning his parents will have two children in college at the same time for three years.

Asked whether she had a preliminary plan of attack, Elise said she did: to gain admission to a wealthy, highly selective private college that, unlike the California system, might pay her tuition in full.

The 2009 Glow Foundation Scholars Are Announced!

elena — Fri, 08 May 2009 22:52:30 +0000

The 2009 Glow Foundation Scholars Are Announced!

Glow provided financial education to over 220 students and gave scholarships to 36 outstanding students (amounting to $133,500) in FY2009.

Glow Unmet Need Scholarships - Provided for full 4-years (or 2-years for Community Colleges)

Abdulmalek Ali
High School / Partner Organization: San Leandro High School
College: California State University, East Bay

Adolfo Gomez
High School: Lionel Wilson College Preparatory Academy
Partner Organization: BUILD- Lionel Wilson
College: University of California, Berkeley

Ana Kofeloa
High School / Partner Organization: East Palo Alto Academy High School
College: San Francisco State University

Angelissa Paulino
High School / Partner Organization: Metropolitan Arts and Technology High School
College: Middlebury College

Ashley Quintana
High School: Menlo School
Partner Organization: SPARK
College: Occidental College

Ay’Anna Moody
High School: Lionel Wilson College Preparatory Academy
Partner Organization: BUILD- Lionel Wilson
College: University of California, Los Angeles

Daisy Revuelta
High School: East Palo Alto Academy High School
Partner Organization: BUILD-Peninsula, East Palo Alto Academy High School
College: University of California, Santa Cruz

Darian Ng
High School / Partner Organization: City Arts and Technology High School
College: University of California, Berkeley

Elizabeth Castanon
High School: Lionel Wilson College Preparatory Academy
Partner Organization: BUILD- Lionel Wilson
College: University of San Francisco

Elizabeth Corral
High School / Partner Organization: International Studies Academy
College: University of California, Berkeley

Fernando Elvira
High School / Partner Organization: International Studies Academy
College: University of California, Davis

Gabriella Tripolsky
High School: Woodside High School
Partner Organization: BUILD-Peninsula
College: University of California, San Diego

Georgina Ashton
High School: Terra Bella Academy
Partner Organization: Fresh Lifelines for Youth
College: De Anza College

Ilisha Graham
High School / Partner Organization: City Arts and Technology High School
College: University of San Francisco

Ismael Munoz
High School / Partner Organization: San Leandro High School
College: Saint Mary’s College of California

Ivan Zamora Diaz
High School: Lionel Wilson College Preparatory Academy
Partner Organization: BUILD- Lionel Wilson
College: University of California, Berkeley

Jessica Tang
High School / Partner Organization: City Arts and Technology High School
College: Mills College

Jose Trujillo
High School: East Palo Alto Academy High School
Partner Organization: East Palo Alto Academy High School, Foundation for a College Education
College: University of California, Santa Cruz

Keyla Velazquez
High School / Partner Organization: Summit Prep Charter High School
College: Cal State University, Northridge

Kiara Gaytan
High School / Partner Organization: East Palo Alto Academy High School
College: Notre Dame De Namur University

Leslie Rivera
High School / Partner Organization: East Palo Alto Academy High School
College: San Jose State University

Luis Garcia
High School: Woodside High School
Partner Organization: BUILD-Peninsula
College: California State University, East Bay

Maricela Santacruz
High School / Partner Organization: East Palo Alto Academy High School
College: Notre Dame De Namur University

Norma Rubio
High School: Lionel Wilson College Preparatory Academy
Partner Organization: BUILD- Lionel Wilson
College: University of California, Berkeley

Rickey Jordan
High School: Carlmont High School
Partner Organization: BUILD-Peninsula
College: Augustana College

Rosana Callejas
High School / Partner Organization: International Studies Academy
College: San Francisco State University

Roseanna Maafu
High School / Partner Organization: East Palo Alto Academy High School
College: Notre Dame De Namur University

Sally Rodriguez
High School: Palo Alto High School
Partner Organization: Foundation for a College Education
College: Saint Mary’s College of California

Taniko Jackson-Martinez
High School: Henry M. Gunn High School
Partner Organization: Foundation for a College Education
College: Mount Holyoke Collegeg

Glow Financial Education Award Scholarships – Provided for the 1st year in college / Potentially renewable

Belen Ponce Ramos
High School / Partner Organization: San Leandro High School
College: University of California, Merced

Elizabeth Vera
High School / Partner Organization: Leadership Public Schools – San Jose
College: De Anza College

Jazmin Rocha
High School / Partner Organization: East Palo Alto Academy High School
College: Santa Clara University

Jose Luis Lima Jr.
High School: Calero High School (currently a junior)
Partner Organization: Fresh Lifelines for Youth

Kenneth Jones
High School / Partner Organization: East Palo Alto Academy High School
College: Anderson University

Louis Yasuhiro
High School / Partner Organization: City Arts and Technology High School
College: University of California, Irvine

Maria Ceja
High School / Partner Organization: Summit Prep Charter High School
College: California State University, East Bay

Low Income, High Potential

admin — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:31:51 +0000

Glow Foundation gives guidance, scholarships to students needing it most

Mountain View Voice
by Jennifer Pence

Imagine you’re one of the 28 million Americans who lack access to traditional financial services. For financial transactions, your family relies on payday loans, check-cashing services and pawnshops rather than checking and savings accounts or lines of credit. Meanwhile, you’ve worked hard in school and, despite the odds against it, been the first person in your family admitted to college.

This may sound like the American dream come true, until you’re hit with a tuition bill of $10,000 or more - after you’ve already maxed out on financial aid provided by your college and the government. Your family has no or bad credit and therefore can’t qualify for loans, and no one in your family has ever applied to college and so cannot give you advice on obtaining scholarships.

What do you do? If you’re lucky, you connect with the Glow Foundation, which provides financial education, mentoring and scholarships to high-potential, low-income students. . . Read the full article

Freedom Financial Network Partners with Glow Foundation

admin — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:50:10 +0000

SAN MATEO, Calif., Feb. 12, 2009 - Freedom Financial Network LLC (FFN), and Glow Foundation have launched a partnership to help high-potential, under-resourced high school students in the Bay Area bridge the gap to college education.

This year, FFN will fund two scholarships of $5,000 each, and will provide $25,000 to help build a Web-based financial education program for college-bound high school students.

In addition, the partnership will include an employee volunteer component, in which FFN employees will serve as mentors for students participating in Glow programs. Mentors will help students develop a personal financial budget for their first year in college and will take part in the scholarship evaluation process.

Read the full article

2008 Fall/Winter Glow eNewsletter

admin — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 01:03:43 +0000

In this issue:

In the News
Snapshot of 2008 Glow Scholars
Glow now serving students in East Bay!
Glow Program Events and Tours

Dear friend,

The Glow programs are in full swing this year with nearly 200 high school seniors participating in our financial education program. We can almost hear the sighs of relief from our students who probably spent the past Thanksgiving break finishing up their college applications for the UC and CSU priority deadlines and early applications for many private universities. How we wish we could tell our students that the difficult part is now over . . . continue reading the archived copy of our newsletter