The Flawed Math of Financial Aid—and the Safety Net That Works
By Ruthe Farmer, Founder & CEO
The largest untapped pool of technical talent in the U.S. is hiding in plain sight — students already in college, striving toward tech and engineering degrees, but vulnerable to being derailed by modest, unexpected financial hurdles. In 2019, we founded the Last Mile Education Fund to stop this hidden leak in the tech talent pipeline—and today, that mission has grown into a national movement.
This 5-Year Impact Report is more than a set of numbers—it’s a testament to the resilience of striving students, the power of timely intervention, and the collective will to rewrite the story for thousands of financially vulnerable aspiring technologists. I’m thrilled to share the milestones we’ve reached, the lessons we’ve learned, and the road ahead.
The Vision: Supporting & Launching High-potential Talent
From the beginning, our mission has been clear: close critical financial and career support gaps for college students in their “last mile” to graduation—particularly in high-demand tech fields. We chose to focus not on those beginning their college journey, but on those already on the path who simply need support getting to the finish line.
We know that nearly half of U.S. students in the lowest income quartile leave college without a credential. But Last Mile students defy those odds. With an average investment of less than $3000, Last Mile students graduate at a rate of 74%—far above the national average for similarly resourced peers.
The Results: Big Returns from Small Investments
Through 2024, we’ve invested more than $11 million in over 9000 individual students in the ‘last mile’ to a technical degree, supporting them with tuition assistance, emergency funds, tech tools, rent, utility payments, and more. This wasn’t charity—it was investment.
Our data-informed social return on investment (sROI) model reveals staggering outcomes: a $1 investment generates a 14x return in the first year alone. Over ten years, the projected return is 246x. That’s higher earnings, more wealth creation, greater tax contributions, and reduced reliance on public support—for the student and society alike. Students like Jada, who was able to drop two of her three part-time jobs after receiving our support and watched her GPA soar. Or Gentle, who discovered Last Mile on TikTok, graduated from NYU debt-free, and now gives back as a mentor and ambassador. These stories are proof that abundance—when applied strategically—transforms lives.
The Students: Determined, yet Overlooked
Last Mile students reflect the true diversity of America’s talent. They are 39% Black/African American, 23% Hispanic/Latiné, 18% white, and 6% Asian. Over half are first-generation college students, and 11% support dependents. More than 60% experience food insecurity; one-third face housing instability.
These students aren’t struggling because they lack ability—they’re struggling because our systems weren’t designed to support them. But when we believe in them, invest in them, and meet them where they are, the results speak for themselves.
“Getting support allowed me to feel more confident… It enabled me to make decisions based on purpose rather than fear.”
Scholarship Displacement: When Winning Means Losing
Many donors assume outside scholarships reduce student debt and costs for the student andt their family. But in practice, most colleges apply scholarship displacement policies: they reduce institutional aid when a student receives a private award.
Research shows that half of scholarship recipients saw their financial aid reduced, with 62% losing institutional grants. Instead of lifting the student, these awards effectively subsidize the institution. For donors, it’s a frustrating cycle—your dollars don’t actually expand opportunity, they just reshuffle who pays. In some cases, scholarships can actually be punitive to the student.
The Myth of Merit
Scholarships are marketed as rewards for hard work and talent, but they reach far fewer students than most people realize. Only 14–22% of undergraduates ever receive a merit scholarship, mostly at selective and private colleges. Meanwhile, nearly 40% of undergraduates have documented financial need.
Worse, merit aid disproportionately benefits students from wealthier families, who are already more likely to have high GPAs, strong test scores, and support systems that make competing for scholarships possible. High-income students receive about three times more merit aid than low-income peers. The outcome is predictable: a small group of already advantaged students receive the bulk of scholarship dollars, while those with the greatest need are left behind.
“Last Mile lifted the weight off my shoulders, allowing me to focus on my education instead of just surviving.”
The Human Cost of an Outdated System
These structural flaws translate into lives disrupted and futures deferred. Every year, an estimated 13,800 financially vulnerable juniors and seniors in tech and engineering majors stop out of college. They aren’t failing academically—they’re failing to pay. Each unfinished degree represents about $630,000 in lost sunk investment from families, institutions, and taxpayers, as well as a lost opportunity for industries desperate for talent.
Last Mile’s Solution: A Safety Net for Today’s Students
Last Mile was designed to solve the problems traditional aid can’t:
Real-time support. We provide small, timely awards—averaging under $3,000—that cover the very emergencies and unmet needs COA ignores.
Equity, not exclusivity. Students don’t need to be “the top 1%” to qualify. If they’ve made it this far in a demanding degree, they’ve already proven their commitment.
No displacement. Our dollars go directly to students, not institutions. Every award adds real value.
High ROI. A $3,000 investment in a near-graduate translates into a degree worth $2.4 million in lifetime earnings, an average $32,500 increase in first-year salary, and nearly $8,500 in taxpayer savings per graduate.
“With the support from Last Mile, I was able to continue being in school and ended up graduating with honors. I was able to not only graduate but change my whole life.”
In short, we convert sunk costs into success stories—producing graduates who are workforce-ready for lucrative in-demand fields including innovative technology, engineering, cybersecurity, semiconductors, data centers, AI, and quantitative finance.
Why This Matters for Funders and Policymakers
Fixing these systemic issues will require policy changes: modernizing COA formulas, ending scholarship displacement, and expanding flexible aid like Pell. But reforms take years. Students don’t have that kind of time.
Until the system catches up, we need parallel models that meet students where they are. Last Mile offers exactly that—a proven, scalable approach that funders can trust to deliver immediate results. Instead of funding scholarships that may be displaced or fail to reach the students most in need, your dollars can be part of a real-time safety net that keeps thousands of future engineers, data scientists, and cybersecurity experts on track.
Talent is everywhere. Opportunity should be too. Until traditional aid evolves, Last Mile Education Fund is ensuring that opportunity doesn’t wait.
Sources
College Costs Uncovered (2024) – John Burton Advocates for Youth analysis of Cost of Attendance budgets. Shows that more than half of colleges publish COA budgets below estimated regional costs; includes NCES data on the share of students receiving need- and merit-based aid. PDF Link
Federal Student Aid Handbook 2024–2025, Volume 3 – U.S. Department of Education. Establishes that a student’s total financial aid cannot exceed their institution’s official Cost of Attendance. Link fsapartners.ed.gov
Half of Scholarship Recipients Experience Scholarship Displacement (2021) – Forbes, Mark Kantrowitz. Reports that half of students who reported private scholarships saw reductions in financial aid; 62% had institutional grants reduced. Link forbes.com
High-Income Students Get Bulk of Merit Aid (2007) – The Chronicle of Higher Education. Documents that high-income students receive about three times more merit-based aid than low-income students. Linkchronicle.com