HSBC gives $ 100,000 for HSBC First Opportunity Scholarships

HSBC-North America has funded the third year of a scholarship program aimed to assist highly at-risk college students.  The scholarship program is administered by the Foundation for Independent Higher Education (FIHE) in Washington, D.C.

HSBC First Opportunity Scholars were nominated by college financial aid directors as students with several factors suggesting they were highly at-risk of failing to complete their undergraduate degree despite their potentail.  Factors that were considered included high financial need, financial need that could not be fully funded by the institution where they enrolled, and burdensome work schedules.  Lack of family support was another concern and some recipients are from one-parent households or have spent time in foster care.  All recipients are first-generation students, recipients of the Federal Pell Grants for the neediest students, and most are minority students or new Americans.

“These students represent the greatest challenge for American higher education,” says FIHE president, William E. Hamm.  “The HSBC Scholars typically have not garnered the kind of academic records that enabled them to have their financial need fully funded, and yet campus officers identified them as deserving and capable.  This program aims to lift a major piece of the financial burden these students bear and provide them with the recognition and encouragement this scholarship provides,” Hamm concluded.

The results of the scholarship program have been encouraging.  Seventeen of the original nineteen students selected are on course to graduation.  “This is an astounding completion rate,” said Hamm, “way beyond what one might have expected given the hurdles these students face.  It’s very encouraging.”

Hamm also saluted the vision of HSBC, whose philanthropy he describes as “very enlightened.”

Hamm added that “Most companies fund scholarships for their own or for those who are the best and brightest.  HSBC looked to where the need is greatest, and in doing so they have made an incredible difference in the lives of their Scholars.”

HSBC-North America is a global financial services company with North American headquarters in Chicago.  It is among the ten largest financial services companies in the United States, with nearly $ 300 billion in assets and 60 million customers.