By: Justin Tabor, PCAFPD President
As part of our celebration of PCAFPD’s 40th Anniversary, the Board conducted an impact study to see how scholarships had affected our graduates’ lives. Since 1983 PCAFPD has sponsored 380 scholars. For this study we were able to collect responses from 74 graduates. Respondent ages ranged from 23 to 53 and identified as 64% female, 34% male, and 3% using other words to describe their gender identities. There are three exciting takeaways we can share from this study.
- For 72% of our scholars, college would not have been in their future without a PCAFPD scholarship. This is affirming to know that our selection criteria has been able to find scholars who can benefit strongly from sponsorship.
- As part of the study, we wanted to examine the idea of “passing it forward”. We hoped to understand ways that scholars repay their scholarship through service to their communities. One way of measuring this was if they had helped someone else go to college. We found that 53% of our scholars have gone on to support at least one more person’s college studies. In this sample size of 74 that means an additional 39 Filipinos were able to go to college because of a PCAFPD scholar.
- Finally, we also wanted to see if there were economic impacts brought about because of scholarship. This is a difficult concept to pin down because there are multiple factors that work together to contribute to someone’s economic standing. We are excited to see in the chart below that our graduates note a better economic standing over time; however, PCAFPD recognizes that scholarship is only a part of what makes this possible. When asked “What has being a PCAFPD Scholar meant to you?” scholars had the following to say: “It meant the world to me. It drew the line between success and failure and certainly, when I was in my downiest part of my life, YOU WERE THERE TO SUPPORT ME and for that I AM FOREVER GRATEFUL, beyond words can say.” “I became a PCAFPD scholar during the most academically and financially challenging parts of my education. It was reassuring to know that there are people all over the world rooting for my success. The essays helped me look back on the challenges I faced and I was able to appreciate all the love and support I received during those times.” “PCAFPD changed my life. I know that my life wouldn’t be the same without it. The scholarship helped me pursue the degree that I wanted and guided me through the most difficult time of my student life. I hope that as an Ituloy Team volunteer, I can give back and help current and future scholars to achieve their dreams like I did.”
Our 40th Anniversary Impact Study has reaffirmed the importance of education as a vector for human development. We continue to be impressed by the successes of our scholars. Many thanks to our US Board of Directors and the Ituloy Team for all their work to facilitate our programs. We also thank our donors, as your participation and donations to PCAFPD continue to support our efforts and reap grassroots benefits in the Philippines.