SOAR Foundation

The SOAR (School Opportunities Across the Republic) Foundation was established in 1995 by overseas Chinese living in the United States. SOAR relies on volunteers in the United States and China to implement and monitor its two closely-linked programmes: scholarship and mentoring.Each year, SOAR solicits scholarship applications from middle school students in rural China. After reviewing applications and selecting those recipients deemed most deserving and in need of the scholarships, SOAR wires money directly to students to cover their annual academic expenses (including fees, supplies, travel, room and board).

Since 1995, SOAR has awarded 20,000 scholarships, and the foundation currently sponsors the education of 900 high school students and 150 college students. SOAR also sponsors vocational school education.SOAR’s mentoring program pairs foundation supporters with students in hopes that regular correspondence and guidelines can facilitate students’ academic progress. Mentors are asked to correspond with a student 2-3 times each year and submit progress reports to SOAR. The mentoring program helps to verify that scholarship recipients remain in school and make academic headway, and progress reports help determine whether or not scholarships should be renewed.