Help a Second Chance Student Take Flight

IN A NUTSHELL:

You can help a student take flight. Literally. You can help a student take the last, important step towards getting to a university, by helping to fund a flight.

In the past six weeks, Second Chance has helped 15 international students get a last minute seat to a university, with a full scholarship, after April 1st.

We have three deserving students - one from Zimbabwe, one from Ghana, and one from Tanzania - who are on their way to university in the fall, and the last barrier is the flight. Therefore, we are looking to raise approximately 6K in funding for flights.

(If we exceed this goal, whatever money is left will be used for expenses such as books, healthcare, and other indirect costs. Money will either be transferred to the university or else to SChance, but will not be given directly to the student).

WHAT IS SECOND CHANCE?

We are a non-profit organization that helps exceptional, low-income students around the world, access top higher education opportunities with a full scholarship, at the last minute.

BACKGROUND:

Four years ago, in 2018, 60 students in Nepal lost their full scholarships from University of Texas at Tyler (US), due to a budgetary error on the part of the university.

These students had dreamed of studying in the US until their scholarships were revoked. This incident occurred so late in the admissions cycle that students had no options in the US, never mind any options in Nepal.

I stepped forward to help. With a wonderful pro bono team, we galvanized a movement to support these students. We found and re-seated 56 of these students at new universities in the US, Canada, Middle East, and East Asia, with 10+ million in financial aid and scholarships. We fundraised 180K to fill the financial gaps.

In the years that followed, I began an access initiative called Second Chance, to support international students who were unable to get access to US higher ed due to finances. We place students with full scholarships, in the difficult space following the close of the US admissions cycle - April, May, and June. (If you work in admissions, you will know how impossible this is.)

At the time of this post, Second Chance has seated 116 international students with full or nearly full scholarships - and all after the US cycle has finished - at universities in the US, Canada, India, Hong Kong, S Korea, Ghana, and Mauritius.

Second Chance has always been free to students. We do not want a lack of finances to stand in the way of gaining access to higher education.

A FEW CASES WE'VE SUPPORTED:

The case of 60 Nepali students whose scholarships were lost in 2018. Read more here .

Pratima Thami, nationally-recognized student from Nepal who had no offers of admission after applying in the 2019-2020 admissions cycle. I helped her get to the Watson Institute at Lynn University. Read more here .

Nhial Deng, a refugee from Kakuma Refugee Camp, admitted to UC Berkeley in 2021, with no financial aid. We helped him find a new university with a full scholarship after the admissions cycle was over. He's now at Huron University in Canada. See video here .

WHY WE DO THIS:

Because access to higher education is critical for social and economic opportunity, and global mobility.

Because tertiary education empowers students, giving them the tools they need to make a more significant impact and contribution to their communities.

Because every year, thousands of students are rejected from US universities simply because they are from low-income backgrounds.

Because we don't want to leave talent on the table. We believe that great minds should go to great universities.

FINAL NOTES:

I have spent 22 years working as a counselor in secondary schools, in the US, England, Turkey, and Singapore. This is an incredible, honorable, and wonderful profession.

For the entirety of my career, I have felt called to support high achieving, low income international students in their endeavors to access higher education in various parts of the world.

I believe we each have a role to play, in helping a student find their future in this complex world, and in building the talent of the next generation.

Thank you for listening.

With deep appreciation,

Joan Liu

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