Ep 71 | Scholarship for High-Achieving, Low-Income Students

SPEAKER_00 0:00

So this Questbridge scholarship, they divide the costs into direct cost and indirect cost. So direct costs are things like tuition, fees, room and board. And then the indirect costs are books and travel expenses as well. So the Questbridge Scholarship covers four years of both direct and indirect costs. So it's basically like a full ride plus sum for students.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Welcome to the Voices United in Education podcast. Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every student in Escambia County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support every student's success. Poverty, as they say, is a cycle. Some parents might argue it feels more like a hamster wheel. They have to keep working to make ends meet today, with no time or energy to focus on tomorrow. So, how do you, as a parent, help your academically strong child get a leg up for college without breaking the bank? My next guest is a counselor at Booker T. Washington High School. And today she's going to share about a special college scholarship program for high-achieving, low-income students that matches the student with prestigious universities. You'll hear the details of eligibility and about one student that stands out in Escambia County. Rhode Island to Florida, advocate for kids, college readiness campaigner, Elise Glitin. Thanks for being here. Yes, thanks for having me. I'm excited. Me too. How long have you been a high school counselor?

SPEAKER_00 1:50

This is my eighth school year. Eighth. And before that? I well, I went to grad school, the University of Maryland. And then before that, I was in Pensacola and worked at Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and Chain Reaction.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Oh, wow. Those are all great organizations. That's so cool. It must be so neat to see the journey of watching kids like fresh out of the eighth grade launched into the world. What are some of the things that you've observed, both positive and negative, around the scholarship piece of that?

SPEAKER_00 2:18

So scholarships are something that everybody has questions about. I have freshmen at Booker T this year, and that's one of their number one questions is okay, how can I get a scholarship for college? And so there's a lot of curiosity and I would say interest around it, but the challenge is following through on scholarships. So there are a lot of applications and opportunities open for students who are in their senior year of high school. And what I've noticed is that most of the time the scholarship committees are not getting as many applications as they would have wanted. So I would say apply for any and all, because you never know how good of a chance you're going to get have of getting one.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Is it normal for freshmen to already be thinking about college? To me, that seems unusual.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

I think for the high achieving student, yes. And also if you college is a desire for you, but you don't know how you're going to access that financially, some people might be wanting to be thinking about it four years early.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Oh, that's incredible. Any stories that stick out in your mind about particular student success stories?

SPEAKER_00 3:23

So last year I was the senior counselor. So I had the class of 2023, and one of our valedictorians, we had two valedictorians, which was really fun. Is that unusual? It is unusual. Yeah. These two had the same exact GPA at the end of their senior year, which was crazy. But the two most deserving students, for sure. One of them, his name is Teddy Robinson. He won a Questbridge scholarship to the University of Chicago. And he is there. I talked to his mom this week. He's doing really well. He's networking, loves it, and he's really thriving. He thrived in high school. We knew that he was going to be successful wherever he went, but he got to go to his dream school because of Questbridge, which is really awesome.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

Wow, that is really awesome. Would he have an opportunity to go there had it not been for the Questbridge opportunity?

SPEAKER_00 4:10

No, I don't think so. He was a take stock and children scholar. So that's a different scholarship program that is just for Florida schools. And he wanted to spread his wings and get out of Florida and obviously was our valedictorian. So he had high aspirations. And the University of Chicago was his dream school, but that is comes with a hefty price tag. So without the scholarship, I don't think that he would have been able to go there. How does the match process work? So there's an application process and that typically starts the summer before senior year and ends at the end of September. So that would be the deadline. So in that application process, students have to rank the schools that they would want to go to. And it has to be one of Questbridge, Questbridge's partner schools. So it's not every school in the country, but it does include schools like Duke, Brown, Dartmouth, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, like really prestigious schools. So during the application process, that student has to rank which colleges they would want to go to. And one thing that's important to know too is if the student is selected by a college and that's also one of the colleges that they ranked, or then they are matched with that college and they have to, they're committing to attend. So it's kind of like an early decision type program. So during the application process, the student ranks the colleges, and then each college will also go through the student applications. And if they decide to admit that student, and it's let's say a student ranks colleges number one through five, and then they get into all five of those schools, they're then matched with their number one choice.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

Ah, okay. I was gonna want I was gonna ask you what happens if more than one university accepts the student, then they the student really gets the advantage.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

That's incredible. What else about the Questbridge scholarship is unique to the other ones, like the Take Stock and Children one?

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Yeah, so Take Stock is just in Florida, as far as I know. Um, Questbridge has college partners nationwide. And the other thing I would say is there are a lot. Questbridge is specifically for high achieving low-income students. And there are plenty of programs and scholarships for low-income students, like the Pell Grant, for example. But the Pell Grant is a specified amount every year. And typically I think it can only go towards tuition and fees. So if a student has aspirations of attending a really prestigious school like the University of Chicago, even with all of the programs available to them as a low-income student, they might still be priced out of those more prestigious institutions.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

So what does the Questbridge scholarship cover? You said the Pell Grant only covers tuition and fees, for example. I've as I understand it, a lot of scholarships have these sort of spending limitations around them.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

So this Questbridge Scholarship, they divide the costs into direct cost and indirect costs. So direct costs are things like tuition, fees, room and board. And then the indirect costs are books and travel expenses as well. So the Questbridge Scholarship covers four years of both direct and indirect costs. So it's basically like a full ride plus sum for students.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

Wow, that's incredible. Yeah, it's amazing. And so you have you spoken with Teddy's family? What has that meant for his family and the trajectory of the next generation for him?

SPEAKER_00 7:39

So, like I said, Teddy has had aspirations, high aspirations ever since I met him, his freshman year of high school. And I think maybe around his sophomore or junior year, his mom asked me about potentially some Ivy League schools. So he's always been on the track for success after high school. And they just say it's a great opportunity for him. He also took advantage of the dual enrollment and AP programs that we have at Booker T, Washington. So, and even I say this, I said this, we had an academic signing for Teddy when he matched with the University of Chicago, which was just precious. And his take stock and takes take stock and children mentor spoke. I was able to speak, his parents were there, his siblings were there, the whole a lot of the school came out to watch him like sign. It was really awesome. And one of the things that I wrote in my recommendation letter for Questbridge and was able to say there is that sometimes seniors want to have, you know, the easy schedule, but that is definitely not in Teddy's wheelhouse, or that's not how he operates. He took like calculus with business applications, personal finance classes at Pensacola State College so that he could get ahead. He knew he wanted to go into finance or business or something along those lines. And he was taking really, really challenging courses even over the summer to make sure that he set himself up to be successful after high school.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

No wonder you did an academic signing. This definitely needs to be celebrated. He's awesome. Is that normal to have a signing ceremony like that for students who get this scholarship?

SPEAKER_00 9:19

I know there aren't many, but so as far as I know, Teddy was the first graduate of Booker T to get this scholarship, but it was the first academic signing that I've experienced in the eight years that I've been there. So we have athletic signings all the time, which are great. And I think our band program has also done some like fine arts signings if they are going to play in the marching band at whatever college they're attending. But this was the first academic signing. So it's just really cool because academics are celebrated, but they're not sometimes as celebrated as they should be.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

They're not celebrated as in a forward-facing way as they should be, you know. And I think that's a big deal, especially if you come from a family that's economically challenged. That is more than just how the math balances out at the end of the month. That impacts a lot of how your day-to-day life is and your outlook on what your options are in the world. So to celebrate that your options are hereby officially opened up a little bit broader is a big deal.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

It's huge. And his mom said too, so the scholarship deadline is at the end of September every year. And Teddy found out at the beginning of December that he was matched with his number one choice. So even like he knew three or four months into his senior year where he was going and what he was doing. And his mom said that just took a huge pressure and weight off of his shoulders. And he was able to like really enjoy the rest of his senior year and not have to worry about what came next.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

I'm sure his mom also feels some pressure lifted, right? Oh, absolutely. Knowing that her son will be, you know, everything, all of his needs are going to be met while he's at university.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

And the other thing that she told me that I just thought is very indicative of who Teddy is as a person. So he had a full ride through the Take Stock and Children program. But like I said, he that can only be used in Florida. So when he got the Questbridge scholarship, he decided to donate his take stock scholarship back to somebody else in the program. So a specific person. I don't know if he can choose the specific person, but I think maybe it just opened up another spot for, I think that program starts in maybe sixth grade, but it opens up another spot for another student. Oh my gosh, that gives me goosebumps. Yeah. He's incredible. He's awesome. And then she also told me that there's a current senior at Booker T Washington who's in our student government association. And that's the organization that Teddy was president of last year. So this current senior is also applying for this scholarship. So he's helping her as well. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

So already given back. Oh my gosh, that's amazing. Okay. So when we talk about qualifying for the Questbridge Scholarship, you said it's it's income-based, but it's also academic based. Can you give some specifics of what income threshold you have to be under and what academic threshold you have to be over?

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Yeah. So typically, and they say even if you're not exactly under or over these specific qualifications to still apply anyway, because the committee does a holistic review and they look at a lot of different factors. So the income threshold is around six, has to be under $65,000 a year, which I think in this county the median income is somewhere in the 50s. So that would probably apply to a lot of families in our county.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

And so is that for a family of four? Sometimes there's uh family member numbers attached to those income brackets.

SPEAKER_00 12:39

Yeah, that is for a family of four. So $65,000 a year is the um top range, I guess. And then academically speaking, typically they want to see students who are getting A's in the most challenging classes. So students who are being successful in honors, AP, dual enrollment classes, and they're typically ranked in the top five to 10% of their class.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

Wow. So these are really the shining stars students. That's incredible. Um, what's the biggest mistake you see students who are eligible for the scholarship make?

SPEAKER_00 13:13

I would just say not applying or not finishing the application. Um, and that goes for really any scholarship, even like the Bright Future Scholarship here in Florida. There are some students that there's a one 10-minute application that they have to fill out that's due in at the end of August after they graduate from high school. And I haven't had many this year, which is really good, but I've had heard stories in the past of students who are completely eligible for a scholarship, but don't get the funds just because they didn't finish the application.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

Interesting. When they I noticed that a lot of juniors and seniors will apply for many scholarships, right? That's of course the idea. And you see what you get at the end. In Teddy's case, he passed on the scholarship that he didn't need because Questbridge is so comprehensive. Could in theory you combine these scholarships? I don't know why you would need to, being that Questbridge is covers so much, but is that permitted?

SPEAKER_00 14:18

I I don't know in Questbridge specifically if you can stack the scholarships. I know that, like in the state of Florida, for example, if you get the Bright Future Scholarship plus the Pell Grant plus any other institutional scholarships, you can stack them. And a lot of times, if students are eligible for multiple scholarships, they're actually getting money in their own pocket. So it's kind of like they're getting paid to go to college, which is really cool.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

I think that is really cool. Yeah, because if they're wise with it, then they'll, you know, do something smart with that money so that when they're finished, they have a cushion. Which when you said that Teddy was studying personal finance in high school, but from at a college level, that is so interesting, considering that in order to qualify for that scholarship, you have to have a very specific economic status that really does speak to his motivation and to what kind of students that the Quest Bridge scholarship would be a match for. Absolutely. Is there anything else before we close that you would like people to know about it?

SPEAKER_00 15:21

I would just say share it with whoever you think might qualify, even if you don't know the specifics of their income or academic situation, and share them, share it and then encourage them to apply, maybe even help them like sit down. We're gonna finish this application today. I think that's one way. One of the the main um purposes, I think, of my job is identifying and then removing barriers for students. Um so if we as a community are more aware of this opportunity, then we can um just be united to share in the success of every uh student in Scambia County and not just the ones who who have opportunities already afforded to them. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

Thank you so much for sharing about this. I'll be sure to link information about it in the episode description.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Awesome. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and share. Voices United in Education is a production of Escambia County Public Schools.