Hi I'm Michael. I'm a Ph.D. Candidate researching the History of Black education at UCLA and I am in my last quarter. Been here since 2018 and it's time to go.

Some background:

UCLA's Graduate School of Education does many great things but they do not provide guaranteed funding for their Grad students. This is a problem which, as they have documented, has disproportionate impacts on low-income Black grad students.

This creates a situation where each student has to play musical chair to secure new funding each quarter (every ten weeks). Which is a terrible and unstable way to live for 5+ years.

What I have been doing:

I have been juggling multiple positions at UCLA and beyond for many years now and this last quarter I tried to only have one position as I try to write a very long document to get this degree in the next ten weeks.

However, for reasons beyond my control, I have recently learned that I will not be able to secure funds to pay tuition for my last quarter here as I wrap up my dissertation. Therefore I need collective assistance. I am trying many different avenues to pay it but as of right now all are coming up short.

The Goal:

The goal is 7000. This is fairly urgent since the deadline to register is today March 20th and the absolute latest we have to hand over the dollars is March 28, 2024 to get the money in.

I greatly appreciate all who can help. (excuse any typos)

Michael