The Plus

The sheer number of scholarship programs available to students in overwhelming. There are programs based on need, ability, interest, lineage, membership... The list goes on and on.

Scholarship programs provide important resources for students, but students don't decide to go to college solely because they won a scholarship. Students know well in advance of applying for a scholarship that they will go to college. The knowledge that post secondary education is the next step and the wide range of skills necessary to earn a college degree are closely associated with privilege.

In his 2019 book, The Privileged Poor, Harvard professor Anthony Abraham Jack examined the barriers to academic success experienced by students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who attend elite colleges and universities. Jack found that students who lived in poverty, but attended preparatory high schools experienced greater success in college because their high school experiences supported the development of the academic, cultural and social skills needed in college. These skills represent the plus in the York Academy Scholarship+ program.

The ideas behind Scholarship+ are not new, but embedding the program in a school so that every student participates is. If you are interested in learning how you can support the program, please reach out via info@yorkarcs.org or click below to make a gift today. Thank you!