Reducing Undermatch
In the U.S., high-achieving students in the bottom socioeconomic quartile are only one-third as likely as their intellectual peers in the top socioeconomic quartile to attend a highly selective college or university. Yet, these premier schools have the resources to offer smaller class sizes, more academic and social support, better financial aid, and stronger career services and alumni networks, all leading to higher graduation rates and improved post-graduation outcomes. Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, True Merit, Ensuring our Brightest Students Have Access to Our Best Colleges and Universities, Analysis of U.S. Department of Education Data, 2016.
Economically disadvantaged high-achieving students are often unaware they can gain admission to, afford, or fit in at the nation’s most selective institutions. Why? Because they don’t have access to timely, accurate, individualized college guidance. They don’t understand how college financial aid works. And they lack family members or mentors to provide knowing advice. So, they choose to apply to just a few local schools with familiar names, or they otherwise fail to exhaust all their opportunities.
This “undermatching” has long-term negative consequences, because undermatched students tend to exit college with lower qualifications and earnings potential and with more student debt.
At Leaven, we know that low-income, high-achieving students have the ability to thrive at top-tier U.S. colleges and universities. In Sarasota, Leaven makes sure these students get their shot.
Realizing Potential
The performance of Leaven Scholars demonstrates that a comprehensive program of college guidance and support, begun in late tenth or early eleventh grade and extending through college to graduation can make a dramatic difference for our students.
They are admitted to more selective, better-fit schools where they’re offered more generous financial aid and academic and social support. Once enrolled, they have access to more challenging coursework, more mentoring from professors, and more hands-on learning via undergraduate research, internships, and extended service and leadership development projects. In these environments, Leaven Scholars continue to excel academically, taking pride in their achievements and their contributions. They persist through to graduation and then on to work or further education in their desired fields.
The distance Leaven Scholars travel may be farther than their higher income intellectual peers. But this, and hard work are what it takes to realize their potential.
Generating Results
“Leaven has effectively changed my life trajectory. To be born into a working class family, and yet to study and live and learn with some of the world’s brightest minds is a personal narrative that can be boasted by few. I feel a personal duty to pay forward what I receive, many times over.”
– Maria, Williams College
Giving Back
Leaven Scholars serve the Sarasota community through long-term volunteering at nonprofits and civic organizations, such as: All Faiths Food Bank, Sarasota Memorial and Venice Regional Hospitals, Teen Court, Art Center Sarasota, the Laurel Civic Association, the Faulhaber Fab Lab, Sarasota County Libraries, and UnidosNow.
While in college, Leaven Scholars serve their campus and surrounding communities leading STEM outreach classes to underrepresented minorities, mentoring at-risk youth, performing volunteer income tax preparation, serving as investigative journalists on community newspapers, and teaching GED classes to new U.S. citizens.
Through extended community service, Leaven Scholars not only gain valuable leadership skills and deepen their civic engagement, they bring about positive change in Sarasota and beyond.