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WASHINGTON–(COMMERCIAL THREAD) – The Student Freedom Initiative today announced a donation of $ 10 million from members of Jane Street. The donation will support the Student Freedom Initiative’s Income-Conditional Agreements (ICA), an alternative financial mechanism used to enable students pursuing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) studies at historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) to graduate without crushing. student loan debt. Jane Street will also provide exciting educational opportunities for HBCU students who wish to explore careers in financial services.
Students using ICAs can attend college for a lower cost, on average, than parent plus or private loans. Repayment through ICAs is directly linked to a student’s income – meaning that a student will not be required to pay when not working, earning below the poverty line, or pursuing higher education, and payments will never exceed a fixed percentage of a student’s income.
The contribution of Jane Street members will go towards funding higher education in perpetuity through the ICAs. Jane Street will also expand its FOCUS program to 150 HBCU students per academic year, providing rewarding experiences in the Jane Street NYC office for students interested in careers at the intersection of technology and finance with roles that may encompass business, software engineering, and business development. The Jane Street gift is also the first ever received by the Student Freedom Initiative from members of a global financial services company.
“The Student Freedom Initiative is grateful for this gift as it is a major investment in black STEM students, â€said Robert F. Smith, president of the Student Freedom Initiative. “This gift is a vote of confidence not only in our Student Freedom Initiative program, but also in the potential these young students have to change the face of STEM and leave their mark in our communities. We hope this gift will not only inspire students to pursue STEM studies, but also help them equip themselves with the tools they need to jumpstart their careers. ”
“We are proud to partner with the Student Freedom Initiative to tackle the student debt crisis, â€said Matt Berger of Jane Street. “College tuition fees place a huge financial burden on students and perpetuate an uneven playing field. With this grant, we hope to help reduce financial risk so that talented students from all walks of life have the opportunity to pursue careers in STEM fields. ”
“We are extremely grateful that partners such as Cisco, AVC Technologies / Computex and Walmart join us in our mission to encourage black students to pursue STEM studies. Today marks another milestone in the advancement of this work as we announce this donation from the employees of Jane Street, the first major donation from an outside company to support student funding through income quota agreements. of the Student Freedom Initiative. A recent report from McKinsey & Company pointed out that the proportion of people of color in financial services drops by 75% from entry-level positions to senior executives. Pairing accessibility to college with immersive experiences is an important stepping stone towards diversity in financial services. We hope other companies will join the effort to ensure that talented and under-represented students are reflected in today’s workforce. , executive director of Student Freedom Initiative, added.
Launched in March 2020, the Student Freedom Initiative is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring freedom in career and life choices for students attending institutions serving minorities. To date, the Student Freedom Initiative has received over $ 100 million in pledges, including generous contributions from the Fund 2 Foundation, Cisco and the Walmart Foundation. The program has also been recognized and supported by the Business Roundtable’s Racial Equity and Justice Education Subcommittee. We encourage others interested in supporting students across the HBCU ecosystem to contact us or make a donation on our website.
About the Student Freedom Initiative
The Student Freedom Initiative, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit, is dedicated to ensuring freedom in career and life choices for junior and senior students pursuing degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM ). Initially focused on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), the Student Freedom Initiative is student-centered, evidence-based, and holistic. SFI enables social and economic mobility of participants through four transformative components, including an income alternative to the fixed payment obligations used to fund colleges, internships, mentoring, tutoring and other student services, as well as targeted HBCU capacity building. SFI works with community organizations, businesses and government entities through public-private partnerships to bring about lasting systemic change to support the entire HBCU ecosystem. To learn more, visit www.StudentFreedomInitiative.org or find us on Twitter @StuFreedomOrg.
About Jane Street
Jane Street is a global trading and market maker. We provide 24-hour liquidity around the world in the form of ETFs, stocks, commodities, options, bonds and cryptocurrencies. As a collaborative problem-solving company, we leverage our technology and expertise to provide consistent liquidity under all market conditions. We use these capabilities to help our clients achieve their trading goals and to offer competitive pricing and support for the most complex transactions. Our offices are located in New York, London, Hong Kong and Amsterdam.
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