Philadelphia’s unique College Opportunity Resources for Education (CORE) Promise Scholarship was formed in 2003 and has awarded more than $30 million to nearly 23,000 Philadelphia students.

Created under the leadership of U.S. Congressman Chaka Fattah, the Promise was the first of its kind in the nation to offer benefit to all high school seniors, whether from public, private, charter or parochial systems.

More than half of the original group of CORE Scholars graduated from college in six years, far ahead of the typical rate in data tracked by the National Student Clearinghouse.

CORE also has RISE Scholarship Program (which offers students and parents up to $4,000 in scholarship money for saving $500 in income for college), a CASA Americorps Programs (which provides $2,000 for 300 hours of service in an academic year) and the STEM Scholar Pathway Project (which awards scholarship dollars for high point-earners in partner high schools).