About Us

How We Got Started

Believe in Students was founded in 2017 to address the ways that college students were struggling to navigate a broken system for addressing the price of college. Our Founder, Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab, donated the proceeds from an award she won for her ground-breaking book, Paying the Price: College Costs, Financial Aid, and the Betrayal of the American Dream. This funding helped establish the FAST Fund, the organization’s flagship program, empowering faculty members to support students struggling to meet their basic needs with emergency cash assistance.

Our Mission

We support college students striving to overcome basic needs insecurities, so they can persevere in their academic journey, graduate, and begin a career. This enriches society and leads to a better world for all.

Our Programs

Our programming supports students with a dual focus: providing resources to help them meet their immediate needs right now; and, for the long term, building coalitions of students and higher education professionals to advocate for changes to better address these issues for all students.

FAST Fund

Fast, effective emergency aid

Provides flexible, timely, and direct emergency grants to striving college students, addressing urgent needs and emergencies that can otherwise derail their educational journey.

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#RealCollege Curriculum

Master class for higher education professionals

Highly engaging, self-paced learning taught by experienced students and practitioners to share research, best practices and personal experiences with strategies to support today’s #RealCollege students.

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Changemakers Fellowship

Building a network for systems change

Highlighting the existing gaps in the higher education system and the misalignment with the needs of today’s #RealCollege students, we aim to shed light on a pressing issue that necessitates innovative solutions.

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Our Values

What we BELIEVE

At the heart of our organization, you’ll find our core principles – the true north for everything we do. At Believe in Students, these aren’t just words on paper; they are the guiding compass for how we determine our strategies, assess our impact, engage as a team and with others, invest our resources, and make decisions

Benefit Students

Our organization exists to make a meaningful difference in the lives of students facing basic needs insecurity. We tirelessly strive to uplift them, ensure their well-being, and advocate with urgency for the systemic changes that promote their success.

Embrace Humanity

We embrace and prioritize the humanity of everyone with whom we engage, valuing one another as people first, with unique qualities, experiences, needs, and abilities. We are committed to a human-centered, anti-racist, and safe environment that celebrates difference as invaluable contributions to our mission.

Leverage Results

We’re not just about action, but meaningful outcomes. We hold ourselves accountable for promises we make, considering both collaborative opportunities and our ability to deliver timely on those promises an extension of our respect for one another and the students we serve.

Inspire Joy

We understand happiness and wholeness are essential to the human experience. We aim to keep moments of positivity, fun, and recognition visible in our interactions, while encouraging time for rest. While the work we do is serious, we are fortunate to be in it together, and not take ourselves overly seriously.

Value Learning

We’re firm believers in the power of knowledge. We approach each day with an open mind, fostering an environment where we constantly learn – both from one another and beyond – and use that learning to grow, innovate, and excel to better serve our mission.

Embody Flexibility

In our ever-changing landscape, the work we do often demands nimbleness and the ability to pivot. We believe that flexibility is not only a key ingredient to disrupt systems that were not built for today’s students, but also a practical necessity to promote balanced and fulfilling lives.

Interest Form

Are you interested in learning how we are making a difference? Sign up to receive more information about our programs and initiatives that support students in need. Please fill out the form below, and we will keep you updated on opportunities to get involved, program highlights, and upcoming events!