Funding Priority: Scholarships

Scholarship support has literally changed the lives of former foster youth like Nastassja McDonald:

You can make this same kind of unforgettable, positive impact on our students by donating to ACE Scholars Services. Your contribution will fund three important scholarship initiatives:

Working-Scholarships

Research shows that if “at risk” students have meaningful relationships with adult role models on campus, their retention and academic success rates dramatically increase. In addition, ACE Scholars Services has found that former foster youth seek employment during their college years, which demonstrates their need to take control of their lives, and address the financial needs associated with educational expenses.

That's why we've created an innovative program called Working-Scholarships.

The Working-Scholarship model includes three key elements of support:

1. Financial assistance
2. Professional and personal development
3. An on-campus employment opportunity that provides role models and ongoing assessment to ensure success

The goal of this program is to empower ACE Scholars to work toward their own success without feeling that they are receiving a “hand out.” Former foster youth have an opportunity to earn and manage their own money, which is a new approach to the time-worn problem of students receiving financial assistance in lump sums, and subsequently experiencing challenges with money management and impulse spending. It also lowers the need for student loans.

Working-Scholarships combine the convenience of an on-campus job with flexible hours to accommodate an academic schedule. Scholarship recipients are supported by campus employers who serve as role models, and participate in ongoing assessment of the student’s experience.    

ACE Scholars develop professional skills and etiquette, gain workplace training, experience interviewing, and build relationships with professionals who have the potential to serve as mentors. Additionally, the work placement is tailored to give the student an experience related to their academic or career interests, thus providing opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Gap Scholarships

As the name implies, Gap Scholarships exist to quite literally fill in the gaps and shortfalls in student budgets. These support scholarships are often helpful in situations when our students need a bit of extra help paying for books, academic fees, and housing. Through our emergency fund, Gap Scholarships are also essential when an emergency arises for a student, whether it be money for food, computer repairs, gas, or another critical need.

Scholarship Endowment

Injecting stability and consistency into the lives of former foster youth is critical, and our Scholarship Endowment exists to do exactly that.

After years of instability in the foster care system, the last thing one of our students needs is to have a scholarship one year, then lose it the next because of a lack of funding. A strong and well-funded endowment will ensure that this does not happen, and that ACE can consistently and predictably make scholarship payments to deserving students.

With your help, we can grow our endowment, grant more scholarships, and change more lives through financial stability.

Your support will ensure that these scholarship programs remain strong & effective: