Fidelity Investments, Boston, has launched a $250 million program that will provide undergraduate scholarships, support and mentors for up to 50,000 Black, Latino and historically underserved students over the next five years.
The money manager committed $250 million to fund the program — Invest in My Education (ME) — that will pay students' full tuition for two- and four-year college degrees and vocational certificate programs, said Nageeb Sumar, Fidelity's Boston-based head of social impact, in an interview.
"The goal of the program is to help students graduate from college without education debt and to land an upwardly mobile job," Mr. Sumar
stressed, as well as to narrow the inequality wealth gap by providing education "which is the surest pathway to grow generational wealth."
The program has three key components starting with the Fidelity Scholars Program providing scholarships, mentorship, internships and financial education programming, Mr. Sumar said.
The second component provides retention and completion grants to help students who are close to graduating and in danger of dropping out due to unpaid tuition and fees.
The third part offers grants to non-profit organizations focused on improving graduation rates for eligible students.
Fidelity's first non-profit partners are Washington-based United Negro College Fund and Boston-based The National Mentoring Partnership. The firm will work with other non-profits over time, Mr. Sumar said.
The first group of Fidelity scholars will be selected from Boston; Raleigh/Durham, N.C.; and Dallas/Fort Worth in the summer of 2023.
Fidelity's discretionary assets under management as of Sept. 30 totaled $3.61 trillion, according to an investment report on Fidelity's website.
