A New Approach To Financial Aid: Alumni Sponsorship

The majority of college students, and their families, are busily seeking whatever financial aid might be available.  Students and their families fill out the FAFSA, the College Profile, individual college aid applications, and local college aid applications.  Some pursue corporate or organizational scholarships.  There is aid out there, but it is sometimes difficult work to find it.

Three graduates of Harvard University have established a new model for additional financial aid.  Made public in April 2009, their organization, called UniThrive currently offers aid only to Harvard students, but they hope to expand quickly – perhaps by the fall.

The premise of UniThrive is the plan to link students needing financial aid with alumni who are willing to give aid in a person-to-person lending model.  Students who need aid will place their pictures and profiles on a website.  Alumni who are willing to give aid will browse the site and determine which student(s) they would like to help.  Loans would be anywhere from $500 to $2000 per semester, would be interest free, and would be paid back beginning in the January after graduation over a five year period.  Several donors might work together to contribute to a single student.  An alum might choose a particular student because of a major, a hometown, a career goal, or any other factor.

In addition to the financial support, UniThrive’s concept includes making connections between the donor and the recipient of the financial aid.  Students receiving aid will write to the donor three times each year to update him on the student’s progress.  Alumni might also give career advice, resume assistance or other support.  It is hoped that students and their alumni contributors may form lasting relationships.

This new model for financial aid will most likely never replace the current system.  However, it is a personal approach that may provide a useful supplement to the impersonal system now in place.  The potential for lasting connections between current students and graduates of their institution sets it apart.  Although UniThrive is only available to Harvard students at present, watch for its expansion in the near future and watch for other similar programs to develop.

Read more about UniThrive in a June 14, 2009 New York Times article here.

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