Empower excellence. Support the Scarlet Promise Initiative.
Video Transcript
Narrator:
When it comes to students, excellence can be found everywhere. But today, high-achieving applicants are regularly priced out of higher education. Those who do enroll often face significant financial challenges. Rutgers is meeting these challenges head-on with the Scarlet Promise Initiative.
Jonathan Holloway, President, Rutgers University:
There is no greater calling for today’s colleges and universities than to make sure students with real talent and potential can pursue an education at a world-class university, regardless of their means.
Anna Masciandaro, BA, Journalism and Media Studies:
That’s like the one factor I can count on—the fact that my financial situation is always changing.
Samuel Adepoju, BA, Urban Studies/Affairs:
I was looking at my term bills and I was just lost. I had no idea how any of it would actually work out.
Kimberly Hopely, Executive Vice President for Development and Alumni Engagement:
Sometimes people feel like they’ve checked the box with access, with getting someone tuition. And that’s just the beginning. We need to look at the journey of the student. How do we get from just surviving Rutgers to thriving in Rutgers?
Narrator:
The Scarlet Promise Initiative is an array of programs designed to change the trajectory of students’ lives, empowering them to fulfill their potential. The initiative supports Rutgers students through need-based financial aid, research and internship stipends, emergency financial support, food security resources, career counseling, and more.
Hend El-Buri, Director, Nutrition & Food Pantry, Rutgers University–Newark:
Food insecurity in college students is really trivialized and normalized. We believe that every student deserves to be able to focus on their studies without worrying about how they’re going to pay for their next meal.
Anna Masciandaro:
I was trying to figure out how to pay my term bill, and that was how I found out about the Scarlet Promise Grant.
On-screen Text
Scarlet Promise Grants provide financial aid and emergency support to more than 10,000 students every year. Other programs under the Scarlet Promise Initiative serve thousands more.
Susan Badia, BA, Finance:
I always saw Rutgers in my backyard. I got to know the finance major, and I really liked that it was competitive. And a lot of people in the finance major didn’t look like me. I loved that. I mean, I was like, “Why not? Why can’t I be the person to set those kinds of paths?”
Jackie Giz, BA, Art History/Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies:
Being able to go abroad for a month through the RU in Rome program, through the Scarlet Promise Grant, kind of helped me find my own passion. Art history is one thing when you’re learning it on a PowerPoint slide. But when you’re there in person, you’re standing in front of these churches, standing in front of the world’s greatest museums, it’s a completely other thing, and it really comes to life.
Samuel Adepoju:
Being that my dad wasn’t able to finish his degree, being able to come here and not only work towards my degree—but to be able to do all kinds of things I never would have thought about being able to do before—that’s, you know, what keeps me going.
President Jonathan Holloway:
Together, we can inspire new thinking and create new solutions to challenges we all face.
Narrator:
Support the Scarlet Promise Initiative. Join us in empowering excellence.
Talent is boundless. It exists in every zip code and income bracket, and it is limited only by scarcity of resources, opportunities, and imagination. When it comes to students, excellence can be found everywhere. Finding it and letting it flourish drives our nation and our university forward.
Too often, high-achieving applicants are priced out of the colleges and universities they’re qualified to attend. Those students who do enroll at competitive institutions often face financial challenges that jeopardize their well-being, delay graduation, and burden them with significant student debt.
Rutgers’ Scarlet Promise Initiative meets these challenges head-on.
This comprehensive effort uplifts students during and beyond their time at Rutgers by harnessing an array of programs including financial aid, research and internship stipends, emergency financial support, food security resources, and more.
Together, these programs will help students apply to, afford, and excel at Rutgers. They will elevate the talent of Rutgers students from throughout New Jersey and around the world.
Support the Scarlet Promise Initiative today or learn more about the many programs comprising the Scarlet Promise Initiative using the links below.
Scarlet Promise Grants
Scarlet Promise Grants provide need-based aid to Rutgers students as part of their financial aid packages and, in some cases, to relieve short-term, temporary financial hardship.
Financial Aid
Financial aid at Rutgers offers talented students a prestigious education without a lifetime of debt.
Student Academic Support/Student Success
Sometimes, even the most talented students need a helping hand. Rutgers is committed to providing the resources necessary to support students as they navigate their academic responsibilities.
Student Research
Research opportunities provide undergraduate and graduate students with hands-on learning deep in laboratories or out in the field, alongside some of the world’s most talented minds in the quest for new knowledge and discoveries.
Emergency Funds
No student should miss out on a degree because of hardships brought about by life’s emergencies. Emergency funds help our students navigate life’s ups and downs while completing their degrees.
Food Security Funds
A significant number of Rutgers students across all degree levels experience food insecurity. Rutgers is investing in food resource centers to help students focus on their academic goals rather than financial obstacles.
Student Internships/Experiential Learning
Experiential learning is a critical component of a Rutgers education and a path toward a fulfilling career. Internships and other experiential learning opportunities empower students to deploy their learning for real-world impact while gaining critical skills.
A Collective Effort
We need you. Keeping our Scarlet Promise requires participation from the full spectrum of the global Rutgers community—all of us. Working as one, we can transcend the forces that historically have prevented many students from realizing their remarkable potential.
Our combined contributions will support students holistically—from recruitment through on-time graduation and in their early careers. They will help provide food security, academic opportunities, financial aid, and much more.
The nation’s best universities offer their education to talented students regardless of their financial means or social connections. This is a hallmark of leadership. This is what excellence looks like.
Join us in empowering excellence.
Learn more and get involved: Contact campaign@ruf.rutgers.edu.