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Students at a Paying for College Bus Tour stop, Reading PA

The Sallie Mae Fund launches Unmet Need Scholarship Program as part of Project Access initiative.

$1 Million in Scholarships Will Help Fill Growing Financial Aid Gap.

RESTON, Va., Apr. 2, 2003—The Sallie Mae Fund today announced the creation of a $1 million Unmet Need Scholarship Program to help low-income students overcome financial barriers and meet the cost of college this fall.

With state budget shortfalls, which will impact the amount of aid available to students, families will assume even more of the cost of a college education. For America's most economically disadvantaged families this increase could put a higher education out of reach. The Sallie Mae Fund Unmet Need Scholarship Program will supplement financial aid packages for low-income students by providing grants of up to $3,800 to cover financial need not met through typical financial aid channels, including grants, work-study, loans and other scholarships.

Unmet need is the difference between a student’s financial aid eligibility and the amount of financial aid they actually receive. According to the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, on average, annual unmet need for low-income families totals $3,200 at two-year public colleges and $3,800 at four-year public colleges. As a result, many academically prepared, low-income high school graduates are discouraged from pursuing a higher education. By the end of the decade, 4.4 million college-qualified students will not enroll in a four-year college and 2 million will not go to college at all due to financial barriers.

The new scholarship program is part of Project Access, The Sallie Mae Fund's recently announced three-year, $15 million commitment designed to improve access to higher education by targeting under-served populations with information, resources and scholarship dollars. Scholarship America will administer the Unmet Need Scholarship Program as part of the Project Access initiative.

"Unmet financial need could keep millions of qualified low-income students out of college over the next decade," said Marilyn Rundell, vice president of Scholarship America. "The Sallie Mae Fund is taking a significant step to bridge the gap—for these students that means the difference between attending or not attending college."

Scholarship guidelines and the application are available at www.thesalliemaefund.org. The deadline for applications is May 31, 2003. Scholarship awards will be disbursed to the students’ institution on their behalf this summer, so they have the funds in place to begin classes this fall.

"According to recent reports, some 42 states are now facing budget deficits and this has taken its toll on state higher education systems," said Susan Porter, board chairman of The Sallie Mae Fund. "By providing financial aid administrators with a supplementary funding resource for undergraduates, this initiative will empower academically prepared students with the financial resources they need to begin their pursuit of a college degree this fall."

The Sallie Mae Fund, a charitable organization sponsored by Sallie Mae, achieves its mission—to increase access to a post–secondary education for America's students—by supporting programs and initiatives that help open doors to higher education, prepare families for their investment, and bridge the gap when no one else can. For more information visit www.salliemaefund.org.