The New Scene for Education Funding in the Founders' Own Words

I've kept a quote book for over a decade (I have several volumes now) and I love them. So, as a follow-up to my last education-funding post, I had to share some with you. Maybe you can add them to your own volumes.

Founder of Vittana Kushal Chakrabarti has some poignant appeals for investing in higher education in developing countries. "Students have done everything they’ve been told to do, got good grades, and worked hard to get into college. There are no student loans in developing countries. It doesn’t matter if you’re admitted to top schools if you don’t have the money. We’re working toward a common goal in providing 12 years of education,” Kushal says, “but we’re dropping them off at the last one mile. What if you put in a few hundred dollars and could tip that?”

Kushal sees his program and those like it as the next step in education investment. He says, “Education is not just about literacy; it is about being able to make a living. We know education is the one thing that breaks the cycle of poverty. Consider a family where your mom is stitching doctor’s pants versus a family where your mom is a nurse. You see life in a completely different way.”

Ashni Mohnot, Founder of Enzi, believes that when we invest in student's education, we are investing in the future of the world and we have the power to shape that future. She hopes that people will eventually use 401ks to invest in human talent like they would invest in stocks. "Let's allow ordinary people to shape the world they want to live in--to create more engineers or teachers," she says. "It's a completely new and almost crazy way to value human talent and invest in it, quite directly."

The idea behind both of these programs--to bring greater opportunity for students in developing countries--is summed up well by Ashni: "If you're smart, people will invest in you regardless of your background."

That's the kind of world I want to live in.

Photo Credit: Carol Mitchell