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Listen to this articleBy Evan J. Cutts
Tuan Ho, 23, Founder and CEO of ScholarJet is redefining what ‘accessibility’ means for students in need of scholarships for higher education.
ScholarJet is a new EdTech startup ensuring that today’s students can become tomorrow’s innovators through action-based scholarships.
“Action-based scholarships are enriching scholarship challenges that enable students to showcase their skills and passions to earn scholarships. These competitions are created according to the company’s brand and what they care about in students.”
Nonspec, for example, posted a “Protect the Egg!” challenge for students to design “an original and innovative solution to protect an egg during transport.
Students are free to paint, dance, code, make videos, and even built robots to complete these challenges. ScholarJet aims to push the boundaries of innovation and expression.
“Many people are struggling these days,” said Ho. “But, it motivates me to see others use our platform and succeed. I want to create opportunities and provide direct benefit to society.”
Launched in 2017, ScholarJet has since partnered with Akamai, Invoice Cloud, The Gaisce Group, Smarter in the City, and more. To date, nearly $20,000 in scholarships have been awarded to students interested in business, STEM, health and well-being, media, and community service.
“We award scholarships through unique, creative challenges like the Akamai Creative Resume Challenge. High school and college students were challenged to create a resume outside of the traditional one-page format,” explained Ho.
In an economy where the futures of business and tech are intertwined, companies are increasingly interested in sustaining a “pipeline” of diverse, qualified candidates to drive innovation and growth forward.
ScholarJet has also partnered with City Year, The Boston Foundation, uAspire, College Advising Corp and more to offer greater opportunities for underserved communities.
“My family immigrated to the US from Vietnam in 2005, so English is my second language. When I was accepted to Northeastern University in 2012, my family had to come up with $40,000 for tuition. With a lot of help, I wrote over 100 scholarship essays and managed to get nearly $500,000 for college. But, you can’t expect that kind of work from everybody, especially ESL students. Something needed to change.”
“Chief Operating Officer, Joseph Alim, and I founded ScholarJet to offer students, particularly those who speak English as a second language, an opportunity besides essay writing to get the money they need for school,” said Ho.
Ho is creating innovative opportunities to better prepare students for an innovative future. With plans to expand ScholarJet into the global sphere, Ho wants financial accessibility in higher education to become a new standard.
“If any companies want to stand out, provide a positive impact in the community, and develop a diverse talent pipeline, contact us to design your action-based scholarship.”
“For students, check out ScholarJet online. At the time of this article, there are four active challenges with $7,000 for you to showcase your talent! And there will be more coming soon.”
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WATCH: Akamai Creative Resume Challenge Winner – Cuong Huynh from John D. O’Bryant High School
photographed from left to right: Joseph Alim, COO; Tuan Ho, CEO; Francisco Calderon, CTO
credit: Northeastern University Scout Team
