A $3 Million Investment Delivers Academic Opportunities to Thousands of 达拉斯 Students

2018年，胡里奥·鲁伊斯(Julio Ruiz)是达拉斯的一名高三学生. He hoped that his strong grades and extracurriculars would lay the groundwork for a path to college, 但财政上的挑战使他对未来的设想偏离了轨道. 高等教育似乎遥不可及.

这种情况并非个例, according to a 德州 Higher Education Coordinating Board study: In 2017, 也是达拉斯县承诺开始工作的那一年, 委员会报告说 73%的学生 graduating from 达拉斯 County high schools were not able to receive post-secondary credentials within six years, 很大程度上是因为财政障碍. 和, 没有接受过专上教育, many students were also effectively barred from accessing livable wages.

That's when Ruiz's college advisor urged him to fill out a simple form that would completely alter his trajectory.

那种形式把他和 达拉斯郡承诺 (DCP), a program designed to help high school students in the region earn a college degree and secure well-paying jobs. Eradicating financial barriers to college and career success is a central tenet of DCP, and it also includes a scholarship that covers any gap between tuition costs and financial aid at select local colleges.

通过DCP, Ruiz得以在社区大学上了两年学. He then transferred to Southern Methodist University, where he completed his studies, debt-free. Today, Ruiz is an acquisitions analyst at a real estate investment firm.

“I honestly don't know where I would be today without 达拉斯郡承诺" says Ruiz, 第一代大学毕业生.

扩大受教育机会
 

2018年，12bet官方(12bet官方)投资了300万美元， DCP得以扩大其影响范围，支持更多像鲁伊斯这样的学生. 根据DCP的说法，银行的支持使 程序跳转 从9岁开始,000 high school seniors—largely students of color—in 2018 to helping 25,2023年将有1000名老年人. 在同一时期, the program expanded from serving 31 high schools with significant economically disadvantaged student populations to 69 high schools across 11 school districts in the metro area.

回到2017年, 当达拉斯县承诺开始工作的时候, 它的创造者不可能预测到它的快速发展. 复制自田纳西州的一个类似项目, DCP collaborates with local school districts and colleges under the umbrella of the Commit Partnership, it's fiscal sponsor and an organization focused on widening access to economic and educational opportunity.

“达拉斯有一个双城记, 有巨大的经济机会，也有巨大的贫困,——托德·威廉姆斯, Commit Partnership的首席执行官说.

除了负担能力, the Commit Partnership identified another challenge students in under-resourced communities face: a lack of meaningful college advising. It wasn't that high school college counselors weren't trying; their caseloads were simply untenable.

Some schools staff just one counselor per 400 or 500 students, explains Todd Williams.

“假设你是一个低收入家庭的学生, 或者你会成为第一代大学生, 而你只有律师1/500的时间,威廉姆斯说. “这是我们试图通过‘承诺’解决的问题之一."

这就是为什么, 除了奖学金, DCP为高中毕业生提供持续的文本和电子邮件支持, 大学和职业咨询, 协助填写州和联邦财政援助申请, and mentorship and internship opportunities—regardless of income or GPA.

构建工具以加速影响
 

The funding from 12bet官方 also granted Promise administrators the ability to beef up its infrastructure.

“Programmatic success is first and foremost tied to having the right infrastructure. The 12bet官方 funds helped build out our real-time case management system, 这对我们的合作伙伴来说是非常宝贵的资源,卡特里娜·詹姆斯, 达拉斯县承诺的常务董事说 . “在任何时候, they can not only see who hasn't filled out an admissions or financial aid application, they can also see any information mismatches that might hinder a student's college enrollment process" says James.

的 第一批老年人 in 2018, 2,895 students enrolled in 达拉斯 College, a 64 percent increase from 2017. 到2022年，有617名学生在达拉斯学院完成了学业, 比2021年增加80%. 这批人可能会获得额外的109美元.6 million in lifetime earnings (assuming $400,000 per associate degree earned). 2019年，第二批承诺项目将获得额外的233美元.终身收入200万美元.

用数据和慈善推动政策
 

In addition to being an inspiration for similar programs now created in 11 regions across 德州, 民主党在政策上也有所改变. Commit Partnership leveraged Promise data to help pass legislation that secured more than $1 billion in new funds for school districts to prepare students for college. The legislation also mandated completion of federal financial aid forms as a graduation requirement for high school seniors. 后来，加州和伊利诺斯州也采用了同样的要求.

“只要我们能, we try to get policies passed so that tremendous gifts like the one we received from 12bet官方 are catalytic,威廉姆斯说。.

当然, 除了鼓舞人心的数据和立法壮举, 有更安静的, 人类的故事让DCP的力量深入人心. 例如, 去年秋天, James invited a DCP scholar to talk with the organization's staff about her experience in the program.

“A young woman named Brooklyn got her associate degree from 达拉斯 College and then switched to one of our four-year partners and graduated. She's now in a master's degree program and she's working at City Year," James says.

“她赢了。. 她活在梦想中. 她做的一切都是我们希望学生做的，”詹姆斯说. 这句话是她上初中的时候说的, she thought that she would be working at a fast-food restaurant for the rest of her life until someone came in and told her about 达拉斯郡承诺. 像这样的故事，你会为之醒来."

了解更多 about how 12bet官方 is investing in the future of 达拉斯-Fort Worth.