Obama's Nobel Prize money: education groups to get most of it
President Obama is putting his prize money where his mouth is.
He has preached that by 2020, the United States should lead the world in the portion of citizens earning college degrees. On Thursday, he donated his $1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize award , six of which directly support higher education for traditionally underserved groups.
Leaders of several of the groups say the gifts were a surprise and a tremendous boost in their work to help students stay on a path to a college degree.
Students and teachers cried with delight as soon as they heard news of the donation to , says J.B. Schramm, founder and CEO of the Washington-based group. It plans to divvy up the $125,000 gift among the 12 states where it has 170 partner high schools.
Teens at these schools are identified as peer leaders and then attend summer workshops that help them apply for college and financial aid. They're often the first in their family to consider college, and they learn how to share what they鈥檝e gained with fellow high-schoolers.
鈥淲hat our students heard is that the president is saying, you鈥檙e not just a vessel to get education poured into you; you can drive the change in your own community,鈥� Mr. Schramm says.
The expects to use its $125,000 gift to fund scholarships for about 125 students attending tribal colleges. That鈥檚 a small portion of the 6,000 scholarships it usually gives each year, but the attention that comes with the presidential gift is likely to help the group raise extra money. Donations have been down about 10 to 20 percent.
American Indians 鈥渁re almost always left out鈥� of discussions about minorities in higher education, says Richard Williams, CEO of the Denver nonprofit. 鈥淭hat we were included this time is absolutely amazing.鈥�
Thirty-three tribal colleges educate about 15 percent of all American Indians in college. 鈥淚ndian people are beginning to take control of their own destiny ... and the tribal college movement is critical to empowering Indian people to do that,鈥� Mr. Williams says.
Groups that focus on minority and low-income students鈥� success in higher education aren鈥檛 pausing to celebrate for too long: They urge continued attention to financial and other barriers.
鈥淲e applaud President Obama鈥檚 unprecedented personal commitment to the college-access agenda.... However, we hope [it] will be exemplified in his administration鈥檚 future policies toward proven federal education programs,鈥� says Chandra Taylor Smith, director of the for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education in Washington. 鈥淭he private sector and state governments, alone, cannot ensure that the nation achieves Obama鈥檚 goal of increasing college enrollment and regaining our competitive edge in the global economy.鈥�
Next week, a summit will bring together representatives from colleges, the US Department of Education, and nonprofits, including some of the prize-money beneficiaries. They will gather at Pine Manor College in the Boston area to discuss ways to better 鈥渂ridge the gap between underserved students and the college degree,鈥� says Pine Manor President Gloria Nemerowicz.
As part of Obama's donations, these six groups each received $125,000: College Summit, the American Indian College Fund, the Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, the Posse Foundation, and the United Negro College Fund. The other beneficiaries: Africare ($100,000); the Central Asia Institute, which supports education, especially for girls, in Pakistan and Afghanistan ($100,000); the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund ($200,000); and Fisher House, which houses families of veterans who are in hospitals ($250,000).
