History

THE IDEA

Founder Michael J. Carter first developed the idea for Strive when he transferred from a private to a public school for his junior year of high school. Many of his peers were talented and had the grades and test scores to attend four-year universities and colleges, but lacked the guidance or resources to navigate the admissions process. Michael helped guide a few friends, all first-generation college students, through the process and into enrollment at universities. 

Michael received a full scholarship to Washington University in St. Louis and created the first model of Strive for College through the Annika Rodriguez Scholarship Program, a service scholarship, in the fall of his freshman year in 2006. 

The pilot program worked with Eskridge High School in Wellston, Missouri, which had a high percentage of low-income students. In 2006, just 1 of the 30 graduating seniors at Eskridge went to college. Two years later, Strive for College helped 24 of the 27 graduating seniors enroll in four-year colleges and universities. 

A NATIONAL MOVEMENT

In the summer of 2007, Michael worked for QuestBridge as a counselor to top low-income high school students. He created a college counseling manual which became the blueprint for Strive's curriculum. Michael also taught low-income middle school students with Breakthrough Collaborative in San Jose. For Michael, these experiences highlighted both the needs of low-income students and their families in the college admissions process, as well as the immense power of student-to-student mentoring.  

Michael now works full time on Strive while in college, and has recruited Jacob Stiglitz, a college access non-profit veteran, to join full-time as Chief Operating Officer. Though other college access programs exist, Strive is unique in its efforts to couple the experience and enthusiasm of undergraduate student mentors with an expansive technology system. Strive envisions a national movement of college students committed to boosting the college attendance rate of low-income students, a movement whose impact extends far wider than its programs.

OUR FUTURE

Today, Strive for College is building a national movement with truly transformative potential. We are focused on refining and expanding our very promising model to colleges and universities across the country, while strengthening our foundations and creating a network of students, schools and communities dedicated to improving education and to social change.  

It is our hope that Strive will help inspire thousands of college students across the country to use their talents to address some of our nation’s—and our world’s—most pressing social needs.