We often underestimate the difference that small things can make. When I was in high school all I could afford was a cheap plastic slide rule (no calculators back then) and it really slowed me down with math. I sometimes wonder what a more expensive and accurate slide rule would have done for me. I had other privileges and did well in the long run. But that is not the case for everyone.
Privilege often gets conflated with potential when in fact a lot of potential gets short circuited because of obstacles that are more common for non-privileged students. Things that are non-issues for many become showstoppers for far to many others.
Picture a student with great potential in computer science who can’t afford a good laptop? Or cannot afford her textbooks or lab fees? Low income students often take longer to graduate because they don’t have adequate preparation and need some extra courses and time to catch up. That often means they run short of funds even with the finish line in sight. Even good scholarships often leave gaps in funding that limit students from underprivileged backgrounds.
That’s where the Last Mile Education Fund is making a difference today. From the mission statement of the Last Mile Education Fund:
“The Last Mile Education Fund takes an abundance approach, investing in a broader group of students already committed to technology and engineering fields, providing support for challenges they face beyond their control, and incubating them to be the next generation of innovators. “
Last Mile Education Fund invests in striving, low-income students pursuing degrees in the high-demand fields of technology and engineering to support them in their last mile to graduation and into a career.
A number of grant programs are available. Some of them specifically for female and non-binary students but a number of them are available to all genders. The Microsoft Cybersecurity scholarship is for community college students of any gender for example. Full information about these opportunities is available at the Current Funding Opportunities page. I have links attached to some that have pages with more details.They include:
- EMERGENCY MINI-GRANTS
- Bridge Grants
- LAST MILE GRANTS
- MICROSOFT CYBERSECURITY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
- NORTH TEXAS BIOTECH WORKFORCE FUND
- REU PARTICIPATION FELLOWSHIP
If you know of students who could take advantage of these grants please spread the word. And let teams/people at universities and colleges who support low-income students know about these programs as well. They can help a lot of high potential students with some hurtles that could but shouldn’t hold them back.
