FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2021
Contact: Rachel Noerdlinger, rnoerdlinger@mercuryllc.com
Amaris Cockfield, acockfield@mercuryllc.com
FPWA AWARDS COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS TO HELP ENSURE
NEW YORKERS COMPLETE THE LAST TWO YEARS OF FOUR-YEAR COLLEGE
New York – FPWA announced today they are awarding college scholarships to thirteen low-income junior and senior college students as a bridge to college graduation.
FPWA’s College and Continuing Education Scholarship Program fills a gap in college financial support for upper-level students. There are fewer scholarships available to them compared to first- and second-year students, who are often targeted by colleges with competitive scholarship packages.
“Now that I’m a junior in my program, the cost of textbooks has increased,” says 19-year-old Christian Chavarro, an education and anthropology major at CUNY College and a 2021 scholarship awardee. “This is a challenge considering money has been short since the pandemic led to my mother’s hours getting cut. This scholarship will allow me to be financially independent from my mother.”
The overall number of undergraduates at U.S. colleges and universities has increased dramatically over the past 20 years, with growth fueled almost exclusively by an influx of students from low-income families and students of color.1 Concurrently, a rising share of undergraduates are borrowing to pay for college as costs have increased.2 The scholarship funds awarded by FPWA help address the crushing student debt crisis that can keep student’s from completing college and can be a barrier to building wealth after college.
Students are recommended for the scholarship by FPWA’s network of community-based member agencies, who serve the communities the students live in. This year’s awardees attend a range of colleges including CUNY schools, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Baruch College,
New York University, Temple University, and Nazarath College. Scholarship awardees use the funds to help pay for tuition, transportation, school supplies, and more.
This year’s scholarships are made possible with the generous support of Ernst & Young and Con Edison.
About FPWA
FPWA is an anti-poverty policy and advocacy organization committed to advancing economic opportunity and upward mobility for low-income New Yorkers. Having a prominent New York presence for nearly 100 years, FPWA has long served New York City’s human services sector, providing grants to help individuals and families meet their basic needs, and advocating for fair public policies on behalf of people in need and the agencies that serve them. FPWA’s member network of 170 human-service and faith-based organizations reach more than 1.5 million people in New York’s communities each year. Join us at fpwa.org, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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