Abby Saxastar raised $80,000 on [RaiseMe], which will fully cover her tuition at Stetson University, a private college in central Florida. "I've always been very successful in school and I've also done a lot of volunteer work," said Saxastar. "But I still had to figure out how to pay for college."
By highlighting and rewarding certain academic and extracurricular activities, [RaiseMe] helps level the college playing — and paying — field for low-income students who may not receive the same kind of parental advice at home as their higher-income peers.
With its new "family assistance scholarships," [RaiseMe] is hoping to enable a growing movement among selective colleges to recognize contributions by low-income students — those who are often shut out of the traditional college admissions horserace because of family obligations and limited opportunities.
Raise Me does its part by supporting students across their entire educational and social journey. Although many micro-scholarships reward academic performance, others reward sports participation. All told, Raise Me accommodates hundreds of earning options.