UAspire

Our History Started as ACCESS in 1985 to provide financial advising to Boston's college-bound students, uAspire has since evolved into the leading national service provider and voice on the issue of college affordability. Over the years, we have leveraged our expertise to significantly increase rates of college enrollment and persistence. Last year, our advising programs supported 24,000 students across the country, while our training program impacted nearly 400,000 students. We now have a team of over 85 full-time staff in Massachusetts and California, with a New York office opening in 2018. Milestones from the last decade: 2010 — Integrated text advising to support students right on their phones, for a fraction of the cost of in-person advising 2011-2016 — Expanded our geographic reach in Massachusetts beyond Boston to Lawrence, Fall River, Cambridge, Somerville, and Malden 2012 — Changed our name to uAspire to reflect college access and completion as our ultimate goal 2013 — Launched College Affordability Training for school counselors and college access providers across the country who help countless students year after year 2014 — Expanded to the Bay Area where we advise students in San Francisco, Oakland, and Hayward, and through programs run by the University of California 2014 — Launched our Succeed Program to address the increasing number of college students who drop out for financial reasons 2013-2018 — Completed or engaged in six external evaluations to assess the true impact of our work and improve our programming 2017 — Introduced our Policy and Systems Change team to influence education leaders and policymakers to advance student-centered policies that improve degree completion 2018 — Expanding to New York City to support more students