Nonprofit Spotlight: UPchieve

Giving

In October 2021, PennyLoafer donors collectively gave to UPchieve!

The Rundown

• Years founded: 2017

• Leadership: Co-founder and Executive Director, Aly Murray, was herself a low-income student, raised by her single mother from Cuba. A graduate of community college and Penn, she’s been featured in Forbes 30 under 30.

• Issue they address: Lack of access to academic support for low-income students, which impacts HS and college graduation rates + upward mobility.

• What they do: Free online, on-demand tutoring and college counseling for low-income students, 24/7

• How they do it:

• A network of dedicated, remote volunteer tutors in 15+ subjects.

• Eligible students ages 13+ create an account and request support.

• They’re matched with a tutor on the platform within 5 minutes - 24/7.

• Platform has chat + whiteboard features.

Why they were chosen

UPchieve is impressive. They have a small, passionate team; many with lived experience as low-income students. They recently hit a huge milestone of helping 10,000 students through the platform.

• They have even bigger plans to scale, and are working on becoming 100% self-sustaining (not reliant on donations).
• It’s also one of only two edtech nonprofits to be accepted into the prestigious Y Combinator startup accelerator program.

For more, read some of their favorite student feedback.

Learning

🤔 What does the college completion gap look like? The commonly used indicator of college success is completing a bachelor’s degree in six years.

• Just 11% of students from the lowest-income quartile earn bachelor’s degrees within six years, compared with 58% of students who come from the highest-income group (5x greater).
• Up to 20% of high school students who are admitted to college and indicate they plan to go don’t show up in the fall. This phenomenon is known as “summer melt” and hits low-income and first-generation students the hardest. Often it’s for missed administrative deadlines, lack of support or sufficient financial aid.
• Graduates with a bachelor’s degree usually earn 66% more than those with only a high school diploma, and are much less likely to face unemployment.

💡 Interested in flexible tutoring? UPchieve is always looking for volunteer, online academic coaches. Brush up on that algebra and help a student out!

If you enjoyed this and want to get involved, you can support the Quality Education cause on PennyLoafer, starting with as little as $5/month. Each month, you’ll support and learn about a different nonprofit working to improve the education system.