Philadelphia
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College Prep/Scholarships

GEAR UP

Helps with college preparation and awareness to students in low-income communities. Starts in 6th or 7th grade and goes through high school- 215-400-4200. https://www.philasd.org/collegeandcareer/

Office of College Readiness

School District of Philadelphia’s Office provides resources and guidance to Philadelphia’s students to pursue their dreams. Provides resources on college preparation and career development- 440 N Broad St. Suite 212- call 215-400-4200
https://www.philasd.org/collegeandcareer/ also free resource below
phila.schoolnet.com/outreach/philadelphia/students/beyond/local

Heights Philadelphia (Stepping Stone Scholars

Heights Philadelphia is a merger of Philadelphia Futures and Steppingstone Scholars, offering sustainable access to academic and workforce opportunities through expansive programming and partnerships. Heights works with students from middle school to their first careers. Call 215-790-1666 and visit heights.org to learn more and enroll your child or student.

Breakthrough Philadelphia

Breakthrough Philadelphia sets highly-motivated, underserved middle-school students on the path to and through college. Students and parents/guardians apply to this tuition-free, multi-year program during 5th-8th grade and are supported through high school and college. Call (215) 261-6705, email info@breakthroughphilly.org, or visit breakthroughphilly.org for more info.

Young Scholars Program

The Young Scholars Program is a selective pre-college scholarship for high-performing 7th grade students with financial need. The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation offers further scholarship programs for undergraduate and community college students. Call 571-799-8064, email scholarships@jkcf.org, or visit www.jkcf.org/our-scholarships for more info.

The Ellis Trust: Grants and Scholarships for High School Girls Residing in Philadelphia

The Ellis Trust provides financial assistance for school needs, extracurricular programs, summer camps and/or high school tuition for high-achieving girls in grades 9-12 who reside in Philadelphia. Eligible girls are from single parent families who meet federal reduced lunch income eligibility guidelines. Call 215-790-1666 with questions or ellis@heights.org
www.ellistrust.org

TeenSHARP

TeenSHARP prepares talented Black, Latino, and low-income students for top colleges and community-centered leadership.
Starts in 9th grade. Go to www.teensharp.org or email  info@teensharp.org for info

Step Up to College Guide

From Philadelphia Futures. All the info you need to prepare for, choose and pay for college. Click below for info
www.stepuptocollege.org

Applying to College 101

FREE course from U of Penn to help high schoolers navigate the college process. https://www.coursera.org/learn/applying-to-college-101

Children’s Scholarship Fund

The Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia provides educational alternatives to low-income Philadelphia families through needs based scholarships. Call (215) 670-8411 or go to website below for info. www.csfphiladelphia.org

A Better Chance (ABC)

ABC’s mission is to increase substantially the number of well-educated young people of color who are capable of assuming positions of responsibility and leadership in American society.  We carry out our mission through our signature College Preparatory Schools Program (“CPSP”), which annually recruits, refers and supports about 500 A Better Chance Scholars at more than 300 of the nation’s leading boarding, day and public schools. Call (800) 562-7865 or go to website or accounting@abetterchance.org. http://www.abetterchance.org/

Upward Bound Programs

Various locations throughout the city for motivated lower income students to help them achieve their goals of college graduation. Various universities/colleges work with students at select high schools Click on the one that manages your high school. Must apply in 9th or early 10th grade and be the first generation to finish college.
University of Pennsylvania (Overbrook, Parkway West, Sayre, West Philly)
CCP Trio Upward Bound (Benjamin Franklin, Building 21, Furness, South Philadelphia)
Temple University (Any Philadelphia public or charter school. Priority given to Benjamin Franklin, Murrell Dobbins, Simon Gratz, Strawberry Mansion, The U School)
Harcum College (John Bartram, William Sayre, and Samuel Fels)

Questbridge

Questbridge helps connect the brighest low-income students to America’s best universities and opportunities. Check out their website for info. questions@questbridge.org or (650) 331-3280 www.questbridge.org/

Let’s Get Ready

Let’s Get Ready provides free SAT prep, admissions counseling, and post-enrollment mentoring to students from low-income backgrounds and who are first-generation-to-college. Their peer-driven program is administered by highly trained and highly effective college students who mentor younger students to and through college. Click here for info https://letsgetready.org/
info@letsgetready.org or 646-808-2760

Women in Transportation Scholarships

Specifically for high schoolers and college students interested in the  transportation industry (city planning, SEPTA, Amtrak and more). Click here for info or go to site whttps://www.wtsinternational.org/

College Scholarships in Philly

Click links below for more info:

Herb it Forward Scholarship

For graduating seniors or first year college students from lower income families. 30 scholarships a year to help defray costs. Click www.herbie.com/hif-scholarship for info.

Samual A. Green College Scholarship- High School Seniors

To apply to be a Samuel A. Green Scholar, you must be a Greater Philadelphia or Lehigh Valley area high school graduating senior/rising college freshman from a public, private, parochial or charter school, or a home-schooled student or technical school graduate and GED recipient, who plans to be a full-time student at a community or four-year, not-for-profit, accredited college or university $5000/year for 4 years. Must apply before March. Click for info and to apply https://www.greenfamilyfoundation.org/samuel-a-green-scholarship.

CORE Philadelphia Scholarships

Financial Literacy Scholarships are need-based scholarships that awards students from $2,500 up to $4,000 in scholarship dollars in exchange for completing Financial Literacy Training. The scholarship is meant to help high school, college, and trade school students from families at or below the national poverty line, giving them the knowledge to handle the financial difficulties of college and onward. Application open year round. Visit corescholars.org or call 267.909.9387 for more info.

Scholly App

Designed to ease the scholarship search process, Scholly aims to fix the outdated search methods that require filling out long, tiresome forms and then fail to deliver relevant results.
myscholly.com

KnowHow2Go

Great website to prepare for college from middle school on.
www.knowhow2go.org

CollegeBoard

Search for info on colleges, how to pay for college, and how to prepare. Go to website below.
www.collegeboard.com

Philly Goes to College

Hey Philly, you can go 2 college! And we can connect you to the resources and programs to help you plan, apply, and pay for it. PG2C, powered by The Philadelphia Education Fund, is your college access solution. phillygoes2college.org

Gateway to College

Gateway to College at Community College of Philadelphia is a scholarship program for School District of Philadelphia students, ages of 16-21, who have dropped out of school but have a desire to get back on track and earn a high school diploma and college credits. Call 215.751.8404 orgateway@ccp.edu and go online for an application.
www.ccp.edu/site/gateway

College Access Program (Philadelphia Education Fund)

Through the College Access Program, students are supported in their schools with one-on-one advising, college readiness workshops, recruiter sessions, college visits, and four signature events conducted in their freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years. The schools supported are Frankford, Horace Furness, John Bartram, Olney Charter, Paul Robeson, Roxborough, and Kensington High School for the Creative & Performing Arts. Email bdefoney@philaedfund.org, call 215-665-1400, or visit https://philaedfund.org/programs/college-career-resources/college-access-program/ for more info.


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