Fund Initiatives

The Spring 2007 “Paying for College” Bus Tour Wrap Up

Students in Pueblo, Colo. participate in a Paying for College workshop during a spring Bus Tour visit.

On April 13, in Corpus Christi, Texas, the “Paying for College” Bus Tour made the last stop of its 2007 spring touring schedule. The Tour, in its third year, is The Sallie Mae Fund’s coast-to-coast awareness campaign to help underserved students and families uncover college opportunities.

For the spring component, the “Paying for College” Bus Tour visited 37 communities, reaching approximately 20,000 students and families. In addition, $51,000 in scholarships was provided. In total, the “Paying for College” Bus Tour has reached nearly 100,000 families nationwide since 2004 and has awarded more than $330,000 in scholarships.

New to this year’s Tour was MTV Tr3́s Voces (Voices), which gave Hispanic teens the opportunity to highlight their education dreams and obstacles in their own words. In partnership with Youth Venture, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the National Council of La Raza, and through contests at Bus Tour events around the country, MTV Tr3́s chose dozens of student videographers and provided them video cameras. Select stories are being featured online at www.mtv3voces.com, as well as broadcast on the MTV Tr3́s television network.

One of the students who received a video camera was Felipe Paniagua, at the “Paying for College” Bus Tour’s stop in Dallas. Felipe, a senior at Skyline High School in Dallas, is well acquainted with the struggles facing many Hispanics today in pursuing higher education.

“There are so many illegal immigrants and others today who simply do not know their rights; not knowing who to contact or where to turn for the right information prevents them from having a better future,” Felipe says.

As for Felipe, he hopes to attend Texas A&M University at College Station next spring, where he will study architecture.

Other Bus Tour partners this spring included the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP), the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) and various local community groups, colleges, universities and elected officials.

In September, the “Paying for College” Bus Tour will continue to arm students like Felipe with information and resources on planning and paying for college when it hits the road again. Approximately 30 Midwest and East coast cities will be included on the fall leg of the Tour.

There are several opportunities for the higher education community to participate in the “Paying for College” Tour effort — from serving as a financial aid expert to promoting the event itself. Please contact Mari Canizales, senior program manager with The Sallie Mae Fund, at 703-984-5222 or mari.canizales@thesalliemaefund.org for more information.