How San Francisco Is Graduating More Black Early Educators — and Why It Matters

The student-led SzKTP program provides peer mentorship and application help to high school students interested in attending Corvinus University, with the goal of improving higher education opportunities for students from low-income and disadvantaged areas. Once they’re accepted to Corvinus, students in the program continue to receive support and guidance, as well as a stipend to help lessen the burden of university-related costs.

Batibot Early Learning Center is a progressive daycare center that offers “socialized tuition” based on what families earn, making it easier for lower-income children to access early childhood education. The center enrolls 25 children and prioritizes hands-on support and therapy for children with developmental delays.

Project PRESS, which stands for Preparing Responsive and Effective School Social Workers, addresses the social worker shortage in schools by motivating social work students to pursue careers as school social workers providing them with the proper training to do so. It’s a year-long program that focuses on staffing historically Black and low-income areas, and has placed 22 social workers in schools in its first year.

Through community events, direct outreach, and resource sharing, Philadelphia’s reading captains help local kids build early literacy skills while supporting families to make reading part of their daily home life.

A new program through Adams State University hires incarcerated professors to teach in prison bachelor’s programs, providing them training and income while giving more people access to education behind bars. Students report that they prefer learning from someone who understands their experiences and is available to connect with outside of formal classes.

The Transfer Scholars Network partners with community colleges and elite universities to help high-achieving students complete their four-year degree at a top school. Alongside mentorship throughout the application process, students who are accepted to partner institutions receive a financial aid package and ongoing support.

In an attempt to combat pandemic-era drops in enrollment, the City University of New York network sent personalized letters to seniors graduating from public high schools in the city and waived application fees for these students for the month of October. The network saw its number of applicants jump 386 percent compared to the same month last year.

The Indigenous Teacher Education Program at the University of Arizona trains budding educators to better support students in Tribal communities, with the goal of increasing the number of Indigenous teachers in the school system. Since launching in 2018, the program has produced more than 50 graduates.

Amantaní spearheads a range of initiatives to improve educational opportunities for students in remote areas of Peru, such as its Ethical Trade program, in which artisans sell traditional goods both to support themselves and to help fund fellowships covering students’ tuition costs. The organization is also focused on helping indigenous students embrace their cultural heritage and languages.

At CU Coventry, students take just one course at a time for four hours each day, which allows them to finish a bachelor’s degree within three years. The fixed schedule and “no frills” tuition is often more convenient for nontraditional students who may have children or full-time careers outside of school.