Millions pour into scholarship program

Developers, tech companies Adobe, Apple, Hewlett Packard and Jay Paul among the donors

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo has unveiled a $5.5 million scholarship program aimed at encouraging students in underserved areas of the city to pursue postsecondary education and training, starting on their very first day of high school.

The program — dubbed SJ Aspires — intends to reduce financial and informational barriers that may prevent low-income students from attending a university, community college or trade school.

“We’ve launched SJ Aspires collectively with the community with the aspiration of ensuring that every student with the ambitions of post-secondary success, can get there with the support of our community,” Liccardo said during a news briefing Thursday afternoon.

In San Jose, only about 30% of students complete a postsecondary education program within six years of graduating from high school, according to a city news release. Low-income students are two times less likely and Latino and Black students about three times less likely than their peers to earn a bachelor’s degree.

As Liccardo sees it, that’s not only due to financial struggles but a lack of information, caused by parents and family members without experience navigating the college application process and a shortage of college counselors.

“(Students) are often not getting the information they need to be able to make good decisions from the very first week of high school about how they can align their actions and their work with a college-going success,” he said.

Under the newly launched program, students have access to a digital platform that provides them with performance-based “micro-scholarships” when they complete certain tasks thought to help make a strong applicant for postsecondary education. Those tasks include maintaining a high GPA, joining an extra-curricular club, applying for an internship or taking an AP test.

Students will earn a certain amount of “scholar dollars” for

each completed task and upon graduation, they’ll be able to transfer those virtual dollars into funding to offset the cost of college or trade school.

Students will receive their funds from San Jose Aspires upon confirmation of enrollment at any public or private postsecondary institution. They will have up to three years after graduation to claim their award.

The program, which is run by the San Jose Public Library, quietly launched in April 2019 as a pilot with about 270 student participants and scholarships of up to $500.

But thanks to a $2.5 million donation for the developer Jay Paul Co. last year, the program was expanded in August 2020 to serve more than 700 students in San Jose, who can each earn up to $5,000 by the time they graduate.

Currently, students who are freshmen at Overfelt High School, sophomores at San Jose High School, and seniors at Opportunity Youth Academy have been enrolled in the program. As fundraising continues for the initiative, Liccardo said he hopes to expand the program to more high schools across the city.

Researchers at Stanford University will be partnering with San Jose to study the success of the program and provide annual reports on the outcomes.

As of Thursday, Liccardo said the city has raised $5.5 million for the new scholarship program. In addition to Jay Paul, the city has received donations from Adobe, Apple, Alaska Airlines, San Jose Water and Hewlett Packard.

Citibank, which will host the student financial accounts, also is waiving fees and costs associated with the accounts and will be assisting students with tutorials and other offerings to increase their financial literacy.

Stacy Martinet, vice president of marketing at Adobe, said that her company is looking forward to helping to “opening doors for more young people in our community so that they can realize their college and lifelong career aspirations.”

“Every young person deserves the support, tools, mentorship and resources to reach their dreams,” said Martinet, a former firstgeneration college student and a mother of two young children.

San Jose Council member Magdalena Carrasco applauded the generous donors across the city for having faith and investing in the city’s youth.

“It’s not for a lack of talent or trying; many times it’s the institutional challenges that are before us and we just need to break down those barriers,” Carrasco said. “To have a program that is going to offer a platform for these kiddos to be able to support them and mentor them through waters that are uncharted for them and their families only offers them more opportunities for greater success.”