Mission
SmartyScholars provides free test prep services to talented, low income students from Baltimore-area high schools so that they can gain admission into top 20 colleges with comprehensive financial aid packages.
Pay for Points
A $2,000 donation can lift a scholar’s score 200 points. If a Scholar improves only 150 points, we will return your donation in part- the $500 that represents the 50 points we didn’t get. Alternatively, you can choose to reallocate the $500 to another scholar’s test prep. We will keep working until we’ve honored your donation and achieved 200 points!
12 Baltimore City School Students Selected For Specialized SAT Prep Courses At No Cost
Featured on WJZ Live.
Scholar of the Month
John McFadden
John is part of our pilot SmartyScholars boot camp. He was featured on WJZ, and is tenaciously motivated. WJZ feature! Baltimore Sun Feature!
Who are you dedicating your hard work to? My family
College goals: Wherever I go, I want a full scholarship
Professional Goals: To become either a civil, mechanical, or electrical engineer
See the data...
- Only 3% of students at the nation’s top colleges come from families in the bottom 25% income bracket.
- 60 percent of the wealthiest students complete their studies and graduate, but only about 16 percent of low-income college students graduate, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. However, low income students at elite colleges (which tend to have already higher graduation rates) graduate at almost the same rate as affluent students and end up earning almost as much on average as affluent students who attend the same college.
- There are 29 colleges with graduation rates over 90% for Black and Latina students. Here are the top ten: Brown University, Pomona College, Harvard University, University of Notre Dame, Skidmore College, Scripps College, Davidson College, Emory University, Stanford University, Wesleyan University.
- Low-income students who attend selective colleges are less likely to have debt than those who attend low-tier colleges. Typical lower-income students (from a family earning $50,000 or less) face an annual bill of $6,000 at top private colleges.
- Elite colleges, as compared to less selective institutions, offer low income students peer mentoring, transition programs, and supportive advising at a higher rate.
After my SmartyScholars program, I improved by 150 points on my SAT score, and yesterday I was accepted into Johns Hopkins University with [comprehensive financial aid].
Mauricio RodriguezTotal Value of Scholarships Awarded to 2018-19 Cohort
SmartyScholars 2018-19 Cohort Acceptances:
*Full-ride acceptance
Brown University*
Johns Hopkins University* (2)
University of Maryland, College Park Honors College* (2)
New York University
Lehigh University*
Rutgers University
Virginia Tech
UMBC (2)
Penn State
NC State
Williams College
Amherst College
Howard University
Delaware State University
North Carolina A&T State University
University of Southern California
Howard University
Goucher College
Emerson College
The New School
Washington and Jefferson College
Wagner College
Lincoln College
Our Partners
SmartyScholars, Inc. (“SS”) is a Maryland nonprofit corporation operating through a fiscal sponsorship with Players Philanthropy Fund (Federal Tax ID: 27-6601178), a Maryland charitable trust with federal tax-exempt status as a public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.