Access Reports

Message from the President of The Sallie Mae Fund

Kathleen M. deLaski, president of The Sallie Mae Fund If I had a nickel for every time someone told me “I didn't know The Sallie Mae Fund was involved in that,” I could sponsor 100 college scholarships. Although The Fund's work touches students nationwide, much of it occurs outside of headlines. We thought you might be interested to learn about these higher education access initiatives, so we have created this quarterly Access Report to share news about our programs and scholarships that might benefit your students or spark ideas.

We also will include a section called “Worth Checking Out” to pass on hot trends or studies. We will feature interviews with our grantees. They inspire us every day. And we will alert you to upcoming workshops and conferences where we might meet you in person.

If you are not familiar with The Sallie Mae Fund, the non-profit was created by Sallie Mae in 2001 to serve social needs that could build on the company's mission. The Fund exists to help less-advantaged families gain access to our country's fabulous higher education system.

Mostly, we serve families through financial aid information workshops and scholarships. Increasingly, the access community has become more focused upstream and downstream of the college application process. In other words, we are being asked to help the K-12 community prepare middle and early high school families for the academic and financial requirements of college, before they unwittingly limit their own options. In the nation's capital, for example, we have become very involved in funding the expansion of charter schools through a new organization we developed called Building Hope.

At the same time, the higher ed research community is paying more attention to who is, and who is not, coming out the back end of college. I highly recommend The Education Trust's report on retention strategies and the new website collegeresults.org that tracks graduation rates at many of the nation's colleges and universities.

Let me end my first quarterly welcome note with a special thanks to the outgoing CEO of Sallie Mae, Albert Lord, and to the new CEO, Tim Fitzpatrick, and the board of directors. They have all supported a level of “giving back” that made it possible last week for Sallie Mae, through The Sallie Mae Fund, to be named the D.C. area's top corporate philanthropist. As Winston Churchill said, "We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.”

We'll feature a quote each quarter that speaks to our mission, one that motivates us. Send me your favorite or any other suggestions for the newsletter.

Again, welcome.

Kathleen deLaski
President, The Sallie Mae Fund
Kathleen.deLaski@thesalliemaefund.org

Also in this issue of the Access Report:

Worth checking out :

The links provided in this "Worth checking out" section are third-party web sites not hosted by The Sallie Mae Fund.

» Order FREE materials from The Sallie Mae Fund to help your students plan and prepare for college (in English and Spanish)