2016 ESS Financial Aid Project Executive Summary

ESS Rural Youth Scholarship for junior middle and elementary school students commenced in 1997. It started to include high school students in 2000, college student in 2004 and students with disabilities in 2006. Twenty years have passed since 1997, the financial aid program continues providing much needed assistance to students in rural areas, especially those of single parents or migrant workers, orphans, and those with disabilities. In 2016, a total of 1107 students received financial aid. Among them 9% are elementary students, 19% middle school students, 48% high school students, 15% college and graduate students, and 9% students with disabilities. This percentage distribution was based on the project team members’ careful evaluation of the situation and their past experiences. Since high school education is beyond China’s 9-year compulsory education system, the need for financial assistance is much more significant among rural students who want to continue their post secondary education. Therefore, almost a half of the financial aid went to high school students. In 2016, the amount of financial aid for individual high school students have changed from $250 to $300 due to tuition increase. The amount of financial aid for middle school and colleges students remains the same, $150 and $450 respectively.

ESS financial assistance to students not only supported the financial needs of students in rural areas, it also delivered the kindness and care behind monetary aid from each donor to recipients, and hence planted a seed of love in each student. Some recipients volunteered to give up their financial aid award so those who had more urgent needs could get help. Some college students who received ESS financial aid also joined local charity organizations to extend their hands to help other people.

The challenge remains for our team in the years to come. One of which is that due to inflation, tuition rate increases rapidly in China. With our current number of donors and donation rates remain stable, we may need to reevaluate our program and make necessary adjustments. (Project Team members: Yang Qi, Wei-Lei Hubbard, Zhubing Ren, Ming Liang, Y. T. Lau, Molly Kao Yen)。