2009-2010 HAROLD ALFOND COLLEGE CHALLENGE: BACKGROUNDER
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
12:00 AM
2009-2010
HAROLD ALFOND COLLEGE CHALLENGE: BACKGROUNDER
Launched in Maine in 2008, the Harold Alfond College Challenge is the nation’s first statewide philanthropic scholarship grant program. Continuing the late philanthropist Harold Alfond’s lifelong commitment to education, the Harold Alfond College Challenge provides all Maine resident babies with a $500 grant to start a NextGen College Investing Plan ® account for education beyond high school.
The Harold Alfond College Challenge is sponsored by the Alfond Scholarship Foundation, a partnership of organizations and individuals which truly embraces Mr. Alfond’s support of higher education, and includes representatives from the Maine Compact for Higher Education, the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME), the University of Maine System, the Maine Community Foundation, the Mitchell Institute, and atlarge representatives from MaineGeneral Health and the Maine Hospital Association.
The Harold Alfond College Challenge was piloted in 2008 at MaineGeneral Medical Center in partnership with FAME, reaching out to the more than 1,200 babies born at the Augusta and Waterville hospitals in 2008. Nearly 60% of those babies are already enrolled. In 2009, with the assistance of the Maine Hospital Association, the Challenge was extended statewide to all Maine resident babies born on or after January 1, 2009 who are enrolled by their first birthdays. FAME provides ongoing administration of the Harold Alfond College Challenge. Over 1,400 babies are already enrolled.
To help families prepare for higher education, Alfond Grant recipients will receive quarterly communications with information about the value of aspiring to higher education, college savings and other related topics. For more information on the Harold Alfond College Challenge please call (800) 228-3734 or visit www.500forbaby.org.