This year marks the 29th year that Teradyne has supported The Building Minds Scholarship Fund, a program run by The Catholic Schools Foundation. The organization raises money to provide families in financial need the support to provide their children with a quality education and chance for a bright future. This scholarship is the signature program of the organization, and through it, thousands of children in need receive scholarships to attend various schools in the Boston area. Scholarships are given primarily to students coming from high-poverty neighborhoods and are awarded without regard to race, religion, ethnicity, or gender. Their primary mission is to provide disadvantaged children in greater Boston the opportunity to receive a high-quality education.
The impact the organization has had on the futures of students coming from difficult backgrounds is significant. The fund provides scholarship grants and non-scholarship support to a total of 78 schools – 55 elementary schools and 23 high schools in the Boston area – for a total of $13.5 million granted benefiting over 3,200 students. In 2021 alone, the organization provided 3,900 scholarships to 3,380 students. The average scholarship amount rose 29% from FY20 to FY21. The program has resulted in a 99% college acceptance rate with Building Minds Scholarship students matriculating to schools that include Bentley University, Boston College, Boston University, Providence College, Loyola Maryland, George Washington University, Berklee College of Music, Harvard University, and College of the Holy Cross. The organization has prioritized increasing the number of scholarships to 4,500 students by 2025 and are on track to achieve this goal.
Despite the pandemic challenges, The Building Minds Scholarship was able to successfully pivot their in-person activities to virtual substitutes and increase their emergency funding to meet the needs of their families over the past two years. This April, The Building Minds Scholarship Fund raised a record-breaking $4 million through their annual event, their first in-person event since the pandemic. The organization is now ready to resume its activities and will be doing more in-person activities and host upcoming volunteer opportunities in their supported schools.
Teradyne is proud to support the Building Minds Scholarship Fund to assist them in their mission to provide children with a quality education and a bright future.