When most of us think about paying for a college education, a few things come to mind:
- It’s going to be expensive.
- It’s going to take sacrifice.
- It’s going to take hard work.
According to collegeboard.com, average tuition and fees for U.S. college in the 2009-2010 academic year range from $2,544 at public two-year colleges and $5,930 at public baccalaureate colleges, to $32,349 at private doctorate-granting universities. The average published price at private baccalaureate colleges is $24,040; at for-profit institutions it is $14,174.
That’s a great deal of money, sacrifice, and hard work.
However, in this country, we are fortunate. There is $168 billion in financial aid available. Nearly two-thirds of all undergraduate students receive grant aid in some form.
This isn’t the case in developing countries. Student loans don’t exist in developing countries because of a Catch-22, i.e. no one’s ever invested in education -> no track record -> no investment today -> no track record ever. And, the average cost of an education is much different. This is what is so heartbreaking about the Catch-22 — in developing nations, the average cost of a college education is under $2,500.
Most of our students require far less than that to complete their education – and break the Catch-22. They need between $350 – like Taya in Mongolia, who wants an economics degree, or Davis, a student in Nicaragua who needs $915 to finish his tourism degree.
Now, we’re not saying that $350-$2,000 is a small amount of money. But, that cost can be covered quickly when individuals use Vittana to make a micro-loan – $25, $40, $50 – to a student. Each of these small, individual loans quickly add up to fund the student’s education. The student graduates, starts working, and pays YOU back.
So, what would you give up to send a student to college?
- A week’s worth of lattes? ($20)
- 4 lunches a month? ($40)
- A night on the town? ($100+)
Think about it. Your small sacrifice can have a big payback. You can help fund one loan, one time. But, if you’re like us, you become addicted. Get addicted to doing good, and you start to do it over and over. One small loan at a time.
I’m doing it… you can see who I am funding here. I’m giving up 2 week’s worth of lattes.
And, because we think this idea is pretty cool… we’re running a promotion around it in July. Here’s how you can participate:
- Decide what you want to sacrifice
- Find your student
- Fund their loan
- Come back to the blog, and post in the comments field for this blog entry who you sponsored, and what you gave up!
At the end of July, we’ll pick a winner. You will have our undying gratitude. We’ll feature you on a blog post. We’ll post your profile in our cool office space and smile at you day in and day out. And…
We’ll send you a Vittana care package. Full of great goodies – things we sacrificed (Starbucks cards, anyone?) plus a cool Vittana t-shirt to boot. How can you resist?
Go find your student, fund your loan and post your comments now!
{ 1 comment }
I’m gonna give up Panda Express for a month! I know it’ll be difficult but that money can be put to much better use as a donation to Davis Jose Rojas Corea, who will use it to finance a degree in tourism.
Comments on this entry are closed.