About

Founded in 2009, One Dollar College Foundation seeks to eliminate student loan debt by sending gifted high school students to colleges and universities on full-ride scholarships garnered by nationwide, individual donations of just one dollar. Our goal is to partner with educational programs and institutions that support the exploration of talent and creativity to help students along their career paths. We value the people whose contributions support our foundation by providing students with access to education, resources and tools necessary for future success. At One Dollar College, we envision a world where every young adult has the opportunity to pursue higher learning without focusing on expenses.


We believe talented students with financial challenges should not have to begin young adulthood, right out of college, in debt -- specifically, 20, 30, sometimes 100 thousand dollars in student loan debt.

Although some academically gifted students are granted a combination of scholarships, governmental and institutional grants, many must still rely on subsidized and/or unsubsidized loans to cover tuition balances, room & board, meal plans, and books.   Although the EFC (estimated family contribution) is truly unrealistic for the student's family, parents (with mounting financial challenges) are forced to borrow from their retirement, 401(k), take out second mortgages  on their home--whatever it takes to make sure their deserving child gets a chance at a higher education.  We applaud their efforts and understand their commitment, but we've found another way!

Delete student loan debt!  How?

Send these students to four-year colleges on "full ride" scholarships funded by nationwide, individual donations of just One Dollar.  

Just One Dollar?  YES, indeed.  We're talking all expenses paid.  Tuition, room and board, meal plans, books, and medical insurance (mandatory at most colleges/universities).

One Dollar from each citizen could make the difference between one gifted student pursuing dreams jump-started with a college education . . .

Ø  or it could prevent a pigeon-holed career in fast foods;
Ø  or it could prevent this student from compounding debt before age 25;
Ø  or it could prevent a single parent’s need to take on a second job.

Our mission is to forego student loan debt by sending students to college on full scholarships funded by individual donations of just One Dollar.

Even during such volatile economic times, people still want to give. They want to help someone in need, even if they are struggling, too.

Check out the following statistics:

"Americans gave more than $290.89 billion to their favorite causes despite the economic conditions. Total giving, when adjusted for inflation, was up 3.8 percent in 2010."
(Giving USA, 2010)

We chose One Dollar because it does not challenge household budgets and most can afford to donate that amount.  We also believe we need to unify to help one another. No one person will be effective with this One Dollar donation without their neighbor.  The fact is, unification and community is generally important, but in the case of One Dollar College, those two values are the heart of our mission.  We can only reach our goal by working together.