Helping First-Generation Students to & Through College Across the Bay

Believe. Partner. Connect.

These three values animate the work of 10,000 Degrees, a uniquely successful Bay Area organization supporting students from low-income backgrounds to and through college and beyond.

Begun as the Marin Education Foundation in 1981, supporting only a handful of college seniors, the organization has grown to be a national model for equity-focused educational support, serving more than 12,000 students and their families each year in the Bay Area.

Although a college education has become increasingly necessary for economic stability, the barriers for student success have remained high for some students, with rates of college graduation stunningly low for first-generation students, or those from under-resourced communities.

The good news is that 10,000 Degrees has time-tested a model of support that has achieved unmatched success rates. Their partnership with community colleges, for instance, has led to 10,000 Degrees’ students tripling the rate at which they transfer to and graduate from four-year colleges, compared with the national average. Another stunning result: 80% of 10,000 Degrees’ students graduate with a bachelor’s degree, compared with 31% of their national peers.

Part of this success has to do with personal connections. A crown jewel of 10,000 Degrees’ program is their network of Fellows, staffed mostly with 10,000 Degrees alumni, in which these “near peer” advisers work closely with students who share similar backgrounds.

“During the pandemic, it became even more clear that the most important thing is relationships,” said Christopher Gonzales, Chief Strategy Officer. “When school officials couldn’t get a hold of students, our Fellows would call, and the students would answer. Sometimes that was the critical difference for them” in continuing their studies.

After helping 20,000 students earn college degrees, and providing more than $80 million in financial assistance, 10,000 Degrees is seeing the impact of its students out in the world. From Abigail Cadelina, who teaches health education at the KIPP Summit Academy in San Lorenzo, to Pepe Gonzalez, Principal of Laurel Dell Elementary School in San Rafael, 10,000 Degrees alumni are eager not just to improve themselves, but to work to expand educational opportunities to under-resourced communities. It’s no wonder that the organization’s tagline is “10,000 Degrees: College Graduates Who Change the World.”