Impact Giving
Join the Next Round of Impact Philanthropy!
Discover how your investment can build on the most transformational investments ever made in education to expand educational opportunity, at scale.
Everything we’ve built for 46 years has led to this moment.
Today, a bold vision, proven impact, and transformational investment have created a
rare opportunity to accelerate getting more students to and through college.
The challenges facing students have changed, making the path to opportunity more uncertain than ever. At exactly the same time, 10,000 Degrees has never been better
positioned to respond.
You can help to harness this unique momentum and shape the future.
Why Now?
The path to opportunity is getting steeper.
Talent is everywhere. Opportunity isn't.
Your window won’t stay open.
10,000 Degrees has the Solution.
The next round starts now.
Invest at the inflection point.
Extraordinary moments happen when growing need meets proven readiness. The MacKenzie Scott gift accelerated 10,000 Degrees’ ability to meet this moment, creating a rare opportunity to create what comes next. The people who shape the future don’t wait for moments like this to pass. They invest in them.
Let’s Transform What’s Possible—Together
10,000 Degrees knows how to turn investment into impact. Your investment accelerates what comes next.
We invite you to speak with our team about your philanthropic goals and how your partnership can make the greatest possible impact.
FAQ
About 10,000 Degrees
What does 10,000 Degrees do?
For nearly five decades, 10,000 Degrees has helped students from low-income backgrounds get to, through, and beyond college — with the advising, scholarships, mentorship, and long-term support it actually takes to get there. Since 1981, we’ve worked with more than 92,000 students and awarded over $123 million in scholarships. Today, 10,000 Degrees serves students across eight Bay Area counties and Utah through early college awareness, college and financial aid advising, scholarships and financial aid management, near-peer mentoring, community college transfer support, and career readiness.
The belief behind all of it: Talent is everywhere. Opportunity isn’t. 10,000 Degrees exists to close that gap.
What is the Education Opportunity Divide, and why does it matter now?
The Education Opportunity Divide is the widening gap between students who have access to and support through a quality college education and those who don’t. Only 14% of students from low-income backgrounds graduate with a bachelor’s degree, compared to 58% of their higher-income peers. And the divide is widening: for the first time in more than 70 years, progress toward educational equality is reversing. Economic instability, rapid technological change, and shifting public policy have fundamentally changed the path to opportunity, putting college further out of reach for the students who have always faced the greatest barriers. More students with extraordinary potential are being left behind—not because they lack talent, but because opportunity is moving farther out of reach.
This is the problem of our lifetime, and yesterday’s solutions cannot meet today’s realities.
What is the College & Career Success Model, and what makes it different?
10,000 Degrees has cracked the code on scaling student success through our College & Career Success Model. Here’s what makes our model different from a traditional scholarship or access program:
- Eliminates disqualifiers like GPA and test scores.
- Meets students where they are, with multiple pathways including community college.
- Inspires belief in students’ unlimited potential.
- Demystifies the financial aid process for debt-free degrees.
- Near-peer mentors help students navigate life both on and off campus.
- Provides personalized, adaptable support at every step—to, through, and beyond college.
What results has 10,000 Degrees achieved?
The numbers are the proof behind our model:
- 80%+ of 10,000 Degrees college students graduate — double the national average
- 85% graduate debt-free, compared to 16% nationally
- 84% are the first in their family to attend college
- Community college students transfer to four-year colleges at twice the national rate
- $9.8M in scholarships awarded annually, helping students leverage $70M in additional free financial aid
- 16,000+ students and alumni reached each year
- Top 1%, four-star rated by Charity Navigator for 14 consecutive years running
10,000 Degrees was built for this moment. Forty-six years of adaptation, exceptional outcomes, disciplined execution, and visionary leadership have earned the trust of students, families, and philanthropists alike.
The MacKenzie Scott Gift
If you just got $42 million, why do you still need money?
The visionary $42 million MacKenzie Scott gift recognized 10,000 Degrees’ ability to adapt, leverage resources, and accelerate impact. And it validates how well the model works at scale. The Scott gift didn’t close the door on philanthropy at 10,000 Degrees — it opened the next round. This campaign—and your gift—isn’t about keeping the doors open or rescuing an organization in need. Your gift is about what becomes possible with this validation and the funds to accelerate and grow.
Practically speaking, 10,000 Degrees views the Scott gift as catalytic capital. It’s a launchpad, not an endowment substitute, deployed over several years to expand scholarships, fund strategic growth into new communities, and build the technology and infrastructure needed to serve many more students, while also strengthening long-term financial reserves.
The Scott gift didn’t suddenly make 10,000 Degrees capable of accelerating. It recognized an organization that already knew how. Today, 10,000 Degrees can respond faster, scale sooner, and meet the growing need with greater impact. Your investment accelerates what comes next.
What did the Scott gift validate?
MacKenzie Scott’s giving model is famously data-driven. She and her team research organizations extensively and give large, unrestricted gifts to those with proven, high-impact models and strong leadership. Smart investors follow smart money — and Scott’s $42 million investment was independent, third-party validation of everything 10,000 Degrees’ own results already showed: this is one of the most efficient and effective college success models in the country, run by seasoned leadership capable of turning transformational investment into transformational impact.
Validation like that doesn’t create complacency — it creates confidence and momentum. And it opens the next round of opportunity for smart investors. Extraordinary investors invest for extraordinary returns.