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Have you ever known a young person who was bright enough to attend college but was unable to afford it? How many great ideas were lost? Or what great entrapenural vision simply never saw the light of day? What great advancements do we not have because a young person simply never got a chance to further his/her education?
Can we as individuals, living in the worlds richest country do something about this?
Of course. But first some facts:
The AAFRC Trust for Philanthropy, in partnership with the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, released an annual report, "Giving USA", on donations to charitable causes. The 2007 edition (based on data from 2006) estimates that charitable giving has reached $295.02 billion.
College Costs in America
Attending a college or university in the United States is very expensive. A year at a prominent four-year university can cost almost $50,000, and this does not include the extra costs of housing, transportation, and other living expenses.
There are, of course, less expensive options at colleges that also offer an excellent education. Most four-year colleges cost at least $10,000 per year, and many more are in the $20,000 to $30,000 range.
So assuming we could capture 1/10 of 1% of the $300 billion annual charity money available, we would have $300,000,000.00 available to pay for a students education. Assuming a $10,000.00 public college/university education for 1 year, that pays for the education of 30,000 students.
What if it could be 1%? That would be $3 billion available per year. That would pay the college costs for 300,000 students per year.
But how do you raise that kind of money?
Answer this question:
Would you be willing to donate $1 to a college student if you knew that it would be used to pay for that student's educational expenses? How about $5? $10?
The solution is simple:
Provide a web-site where hundreds (then thousands, then millions) of people can donate as little as a dollar (minimum donation $1 per student) and divide it amongst up to 10 students.
That money is then to be used by the students to pay for tuition, books, on-campus boarding, on-campus meals, labs, etc.
The student can be attending college currently (or for phase two it can be a high-school student who is planning to attend college*).
We ensure the money is used appropriately by sending it directly to the educational institution, not the student.
This is called micro-financing or micro-lending and it's already being used around the world...
Conceptual Description of Similar Projects already in Existence
- Micro-lending is already in place in many ways around the world. The concept is that the cost of a project (or business) is spread out to many hundreds or thousands of people by way of each individual making a very small loan.
- PayPal can be used to make such payments easier for the micro-lender. Paypal also defers all costs for the transaction in support of the cause.
- Kiva.org is the premier example of a non-profit organization that connects 3rd world entrepreneurs with Micro-lenders around the world.
- www.microplace.com is another example (owned by Ebay) or a micro-lender trying to help people help them-semselves by improving the ability to earn a living
The Idea in a Nutshell
Our concept is basically the same, except it is not a loan:
- It is a donation
- It is not to be used for a business but for an education. A micro-donation for an education.
- A college education to be specific.
Provide funds for students:
- Who are smart enough to attend college, and want to, but whose parents cannot afford it now out of pocket, nor can they afford to pay back the loan.
- So that they will not need to worry about paying the loans back after graduation.
- So that many more kids will be able to get a higher education.