Over 12,000 students in Washtenaw County—roughly 1 in 3—are economically disadvantaged, and on average, they trail their more-resourced peers by 32 percentage points on Michigan’s English benchmark.
This puts our county in the bottom 6% statewide in terms of educational equity. Within the county, gaps vary widely, from 14.5 points to 44.9 points, depending on the district. The Community Scholarship Program (CSP) was created to address systemic barriers like these—not just with financial support, but with a community-based, relationship-centered model. A dedicated college success coach supports students throughout their higher education journey, and emergency financial aid helps them persist through unexpected challenges. This approach prioritizes students who are often left behind by traditional scholarship models—getting them not just to college, but through college and across the graduation stage. These additional resources are crucial based on both national research and local research from Washtenaw Futures, which confirms students who are a person of color, economically disadvantaged, and/or first generation college students often do not have access to the resources needed to thrive at college.
The success coach is with the student every step of the way to provide them encouragement, academic guidance, financial aid advice, and beyond to support their education journey. The emergency financial aid adds financial support during critical times for books, technology access, rent, or any of the many resources outside tuition that a student needs to be able to be successful.
Since it's founding in 2016, CSP has supported many students in their journey and is only growing. Read about the impact of CSP in our 2022 progress report.
While there are many other scholarships available through the Foundation, we strongly believe in the framework of the Community Scholarship Program to help level the playing field for so local youth from various backgrounds and experiences have equal opportunity in pursuing their colleges degree. This is why all new scholarship funds at AAACF are established within CSP and why many scholarship funds established here prior to 2016 have had their donors adapt their purpose to align in this mission. Read about all of the funds supporting CSP.
The AAACF Youth Council brings together a diverse group of high school students from Washtenaw County, working together in these areas, gaining hands-on service experience, and speaking up on behalf of the issues and concerns of young people in our community. The Youth Council also invites one member to serve on the AAACF’s Board of Trustees with full voting privileges, ensuring they have a say in the decision-making process.
The Youth Council also conducted a Needs Assessment survey in Washtenaw County so that funds from Youth Council Grants can be directed where the need is greatest. As the result of this research, funding priorities include projects and initiatives which address mental health issues, academic support services (including tutoring and mentoring programs), post-high school preparation (including job training, financial literary and college preparation), and anti-discrimination education and awareness.
AAACF's Youth Council provides high school students living in Washtenaw County with a unique opportunity to make a meaningful difference in our community through philanthropy and community service.
Every year the Young Citizen of the Year award recognizes outstanding community service on the part of local students. These are students that are truly dedicated to helping others in their community, going far beyond any school-based clubs/groups/activities to serve the community.
To date, more than 200 students have been publicly recognized and awarded scholarships totaling over $200,000.
Giving Through AAACF
Children and young people of Washtenaw County also benefit from a variety of other programs that address human services such as food insecurity and housing because we know these issues are critical to healthy development. When you support any of these efforts, you are investing in our community’s future, for now and for generations into the future.
