Create college opportunities for Latino students

SLI’s mission – to support Latino/a/x high school students with college access through rigorous academic challenge, leadership development, scholarships, and supportive mentorships – has context: In 2022 Pew Research Center reported that "despite growing enrollment, relatively small shares of young Hispanics are enrolled in college or have obtained a bachelor’s degree."

SLI scholars experience unique circumstances as in many cases first-generation college students; as talented but often invisible individuals; as children from families that are disproportionately under-resourced and disenfranchised; and as members of a growing population in Virginia and the U.S. that is underrepresented on college campuses. These obstacles have an impact: The College Board reported that in 2018 "the median earnings of bachelor's degree recipients with no advanced degree working full time were $24,900 higher than those of high school graduates."

I invite you to read recent interviews with three of the 45 high school students who are current SLI scholars:

• Axel (Harvard ’27) describes “going from zero to 100, from my parents having no college to me getting into Harvard with a full ride.” He plans to become a doctor. vasli.org/axel
• Helen (’25) said her mom sacrificed her teaching career for better opportunities for her children; now Helen is considering becoming a teacher or doctor. vasli.org/helen
• Yeyhlin (Hollins University ’27) also plans to become a doctor, and said that having family responsibilities adds an element of guilt to leaving home for college. vasli.org/yeyhlin

Your support has been a vital part of making college possible for SLI scholars. Thank you!

Links:

• SLI website
• Meet SLI scholars