The Sallie Mae Fund in Pennsylvania

The Sallie Mae Fund is working to increase access to higher education in Pennsylvania.

The Sallie Mae Fund, a charitable organization sponsored by Sallie Mae, contributes more than $12 million annually toward higher education access and other initiatives. The Fund achieves its mission—to increase access to higher education for America's students—by supporting programs and initiatives that help open doors to higher education, prepare families for their college investment, and bridge the gap when no one else can.

Grants
In 2004, The Sallie Mae Fund contributed $1 million to help the Catholic Youth Foundation in Wilkes-Barre to build a new aquatic and learning center for at-risk youth in the community.

Last year, The Sallie Mae Fund provided a grant of $300,000 to help support the College Opportunity Resources for Education (CORE) program in Philadelphia. The program combines funding from the city and the school district of Philadelphia to deliver last-dollar scholarships to help Philadelphia-area high school seniors pursue higher education opportunities in Pennsylvania. Nearly 2,200 seniors are working toward their higher education degrees as a result of the CORE Philly Scholarships.

Since 2002, The Sallie Mae Fund has sponsored the Annual Conference on Higher Education providing more than $2 million to help 800 Philadelphia-area high school students attend. Workshops on planning and paying for college hosted by The Sallie Mae Fund and a college fair provide valuable advice to help entering freshman navigate successfully through their first year of college.

Scholarships
Over the past two years, The Sallie Mae Fund has awarded more than $200,000 in scholarships to students attending institutes of higher education in Pennsylvania through its First in My Family, American Dream, Unmet Need Scholarship, Renewal Scholarship, the 911 Education Fund and various other scholarship programs.

College Preparation Workshops
More than 2,000 Pennsylvanians have attended The Sallie Mae Fund's free Paying for College seminars in the last three years. Families and student-serving organizations can call toll free 866/858-7166 to order free planning and paying for college guides and videos in English and Spanish. Materials also are available from The Sallie Mae Fund's Web site.