DESIGNED TO CHANGE LIVES
KC SCHOLARS IS CHANGING LIVES AND TRANSFORMING THE REGION!
KC Scholars is changing thousands of individual lives and transform the region by preparing our future workforce and contributing to the regional economy.
KC Scholars is a community asset, designed by our community to positively impact our community.
INCREASES IN KC METRO POSTSECONDARY ATTAINMENT RATES
By 2020, at least 65% of jobs will require postsecondary training.
The current postsecondary attainment rate for the region is 43%. KC Scholars will increase the Metro’s attainment rate by an estimated 4.5 percent. The impact on the minority community is even more profound. As the trend set in KC Scholars’ first three award cycle continues, the number of Black and Hispanic students in the region who enroll in college could grow by at least 13 percent (Sources: Georgetown University Center for Education and the Workforce and Mid-America Regional Council).
MOST KC SCHOLARS ARE THE FIRST IN THE FAMILY TO ATTEND AND COMPLETE COLLEGE
According to the U.S. Department of Education, children of college educated are 93% more likely to also complete a college degree.
That is why KC Scholars is so important – it is providing an opportunity for first-generation college goers to earn a degree and positively impact the trajectory of future generations. Of 2017 KC Scholars’ awardees, 75% are first-generation to college. Of 2018 awardees, 73% are the first in the family to complete a degree. Of 2019 awardees, 77% are first-generation college goers.
KC SCHOLARS ARE OF ALL RACES AND ETHNICITIES: THEY ARE OUR REGION’S FUTURE EDUCATED AND DIVERSE WORKFORCE
Of scholarship awardees in 2017, 76% (483) are individuals of color and of 2018 awardees, 73% (671) are individuals of color. Of 2019 awardees, 73% are individuals of color.
KC Scholars will produce a minimum of 10,000 college-educated and racially and ethnically diverse workers for our workforce by 2027, all of whom will be encouraged to remain in the region to live, work, and contribute.
KC SCHOLARS COME FROM 81 UNIQUE HIGH SCHOOLS IN SIX COUNTIES
KC Scholars is inclusive. Students from public, private, and charter schools and homeschoolers are eligible to apply.
There are approximately 120 high schools in the 6-county service region. Our 2018 awardees graduated from 81 unique high schools and 5 are homeschooled. Our 2019 awardees are from 81 unique high schools and 6 are homeschooled.
KC SCHOLARS ARE LOW-INCOME, MAKING PAYING FOR COLLEGE A TREMENDOUS CHALLENGE
Low- and modest-income individuals are eligible to apply for KC Scholars.
Of the awardees, more than 80% have few or no resources for college. Receiving the scholarship is the difference between going or not going to college. Most Scholars declare that without the scholarship, going to college would have been nearly impossible or possible only by taking on a huge amount of student debt.
EARLY IMPACT IS IMPRESSIVE!
KC Scholars is doing exactly what it was designed to do.
Traditional Scholars- Regional
- KC Scholars
- Regional
- KC Scholars
+32 Percentage Points
KC Scholars’ college enrollment rate out of high school is 32 percentage points higher than the region.
KC Scholars’ college enrollment rate out of high school is 32 percentage points higher than the region.
Adult Learner Scholars- National
- KC Scholars
- National
- KC Scholars
+35 Percentage Points
KC Scholars’ adult learners persist from the 1st to 2nd year of college at 35 percentage points higher than the national average.
KC Scholars’ adult learners persist from the 1st to 2nd year of college at 35 percentage points higher than the national average.
SCHOLARS WILL BE COLLEGE READY
KC Scholars provides more than just $$. The wrap-around student support service model ensures that Scholars are prepared to succeed in college, producing a minimum 75% college completion rate.
Because of the college planning education and near-peer college advising offered, Scholars are ready for college. Scholars are participating in college planning activities at much higher rates than their fellow, non-KC Scholar, students at the same high schools in the Kansas City region. Activities include: meeting with their college adviser, taking college entrance tests (and scoring high), applying and being admitted to 3 or more colleges, submitting the FAFSA by the deadline to receive federal and state aid, and campus tours.
529 COLLEGE SAVINGS ACCOUNT STUDENTS ARE SAVING AT IMPRESSIVE RATES
KC Scholars seeds 529 College Savings Accounts for 9th graders and encourages them to make contributions to the account during their remaining high school years.
For most low-income students, if they did not have college savings accounts, they would have no savings for college and research demonstrates that those with a college savings account – regardless of the $ value of it – are 7 times more likely to enroll in college and 4 times more likely to complete (Source: Center for Social Development, Washington University).
Of the 2017 and 2018 College Savings Account and Match Scholars (as of March 2019):
- 48% have made 2+ contributions and 64% have made 1 contribution to their account
- The average balance of all accounts is $1,276
- The total value of all accounts is $131,752
NEARLY 3,000 SCHOLARS IN KC SCHOLARS IN THE FIRST THREE PROGRAM YEARS
- In May 2017, KC Scholars awarded 635 scholarships and college savings accounts.
- In May 2018, KC Scholars awarded 919 scholarships and college savings accounts.
- In May of 2019, KC Scholars awarded 1,354 scholarships and college savings accounts.
- In 2018, there was a 42% increase in number of applications received and a 44% increase in awards made, as compared to the first application and selection cycle in 2017.
- In fall 2018, near 500 Scholars were enrolled in college.
- In fall 2019, near 1,200 Scholars will be in college.
$$$ FOR COLLEGE SHOULD TRANSLATE INTO LOW STUDENT DEBT LOAD AND HIGH COLLEGE COMPLETION RATES
The renewable value of scholarships and 529 College Savings Accounts awarded in 2017 was near $16 million and those awarded in 2018 near $21 million and those awarded in 2019 had a renewable value of nearly $41 million.
KC SCHOLARS HITS EARLY FUNDRAISING GOAL
“We thank our inaugural donors for their generosity and belief in the mission of KC Scholars,” said Dr. Beth Tankersley-Bankhead, President and CEO of KC Scholars. “Because of the support of inaugural donors, we were able to exceed our 2017 and 2018 fundraising goals by raising $1,589,520.”
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Named Scholarships
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100% of external funds raised go to scholarship support, allowing KC Scholars to provide more scholarships every year. See the list of Donors.
SCHOLARS WILL HAVE HIGHER LIFETIME EARNINGS
According to College Board, those with a bachelor’s degree earn about $800,000 more over their lifetime than those without a college degree.
This translates to $6.4 trillion in increased lifetime earnings for Scholars and their families. For some, KC Scholars is the opportunity to break a cycle of poverty and increase individual and career opportunities.
College graduates are also healthier and more likely to volunteer and engage in their communities than are those without degrees. The benefits of a college education are significant.
SCHOLARS WILL SPEND MORE IN THE REGIONAL COMMUNITY
According to the Brookings Institute, those with a bachelor’s degree spend $278,000 more over their lifetime in the local economy.
This translates to $2.24 trillion in increased spending infused into our regional economy. Yes, KC Scholars is an economic contributor.
KC SCHOLARS IS RIGOROUSLY EVALUATED BY A THIRD-PARTY EVALUATOR
KC Scholars is rigorously evaluated to demonstrate its impact.
The Upjohn Institute is our evaluator and in their first annual report they declared, “The KC Scholars program adhered carefully to design parameters of its scholarship and College Savings Match programs. We found this particularly impressive since, in our experience, initial implementation of complex programs can sometimes result in adjustments to procedures that alter design principle. The program personnel should be applauded for the admirable flexibility and adaptability they displayed.”
Read the first-year evaluation report
Read the second-year executive summary
Read the second-year evaluation report
FAMILIES ARE GOING TO COLLEGE TOGETHER
Among KC Scholars’ awardees are many family members: parents and children, siblings, a set of quadruplets, twins, students who received awards in 2017 and their parent received a scholarship in 2018, and a set of twins that received scholarships in 2018. This creates a family-based college-going culture.
A mother and Adult Learner Scholar, said about her daughter who is a Traditional Scholar, “I want to show my children that you should finish what you start. No one in my family has gotten a degree, so it’s important for me to do that. I am so excited that my daughter and I will be in college at the same time. If I need help, she’s always there to help me. I hope she’ll be able to use me as a study buddy or someone who can relate ….” Another mother, part of a mother and daughter scholarship recipient combo said, “I never thought this would happen! I am proud and honored to go to college at the same time as my daughter. … Now, I just need to work hard to keep up with good grades so that I don’t put my daughter to shame!”