Sallie Mae Fund To Raise Awareness Among Hispanic-American Families About College Options.

The Sallie Mae Fund, the philanthropic arm of USA Education, Inc., commonly known as Sallie Mae, announced a multi-media education campaign for Hispanic-American families. The campaign, geared to raise awareness among the Hispanic-American community of the higher education opportunities that exist, was developed in partnership with the Hispanic College Fund, The Latino Education Achievement Project (LEAP), and the Self Reliance Foundation, a non-profit that works with the Hispanic Radio Network to link families to direct service providers in their own community.

The initiative includes underwriting LEAP’s initial 40,000 copies of the first comprehensive book on financial aid ever created specifically for Spanish-speaking families. The book is entitled, Ayuda Financiera para su Educacion Superior: Aproveche Todas las Opciones que estan a su Alcance (Financial Aid For College: Take Advantage of All Your Options”). Aimed at providing the simplest, most accessible and most useful Spanish-language information, The Sallie Mae Fund is distributing the book to college financial aid officers across the country. In addition, The Sallie Mae Fund is making the book available — at no cost — to the general public through a toll-free number, 1-866-858-7166.

“By funding and distributing an easy-to-understand resource on paying for college, The Sallie Mae Fund is taking a huge step toward knocking down the cultural and language barriers that have prevented many Hispanic-American students from pursuing higher education,” said Marc Robinson, co-founder of LEAP.

Through a grant to the Hispanic College Fund, The Sallie Mae Fund will offer college scholarships to Hispanic-Americans who are the first in their family to attend college. Applications for the “First in My Family” scholarships, which will range from $500 to $5,000, are available through http://www.wiredscholar.com , a Sallie Mae-sponsored Internet destination for going-to-college information, or through the Hispanic College Fund at 1-800-644-4223.

“The program being announced today by The Sallie Mae Fund is a powerful and effective illustration for the Hispanic-American community that college can be an affordable option,” said Idalia Pena, acting director for Hispanic College Fund.

To support the education campaign, for two weeks, from October 22 through November 4, Hispanic Radio Network (HRN) will feature information about the book on its popular show, “Camino al Exito/The Road to Success,” whose broadcast covers 87 percent of the Spanish-speaking population, and through HRN’s weekly newspaper editorial column, “La Columna Vertebral” featured in 70 Spanish newspapers.

“Minorities are the workforce of the future, but today only 12 percent of Hispanics earn a college degree,” said Albert L. Lord, vice chairman and chief executive officer of Sallie Mae. “The Sallie Mae Fund is committed to eliminating financial barriers and raising the awareness of education opportunities in the Hispanic-American community. We can do much better than 12 percent.”