AT&T (News - Alert) is providing $10 million in grant money to 47 worthy recipients. One of the announced recipients of the Aspire grant is the Center for Companies That Care’s program AIM High, which aims to increase the college graduation rate among disadvantaged urban youth.

With the $300,000 donated by AT&T, AIM High will be inviting over 100 ninth grade students to join their program. Students who are part of the program begin in ninth grade, when they are paired with three to six mentors, professionals from the business community, who continue to coach them over a long-term period, sticking by their side until their college graduation, ensuring that they have help through both high school and college trials and setbacks, helping them to achieve their goals.


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The president of the Center for Companies That Care, Marci Koblenz, says that what makes AIM High successful is that it is “long-term” and provides students with “college-educated role models”. She goes on to state that, “Businesses are eager to participate because they not only want to make a meaningful difference in the community, but they also see the critical business imperative of increasing the diversity of tomorrow’s workplace.”

AT&T Aspire, which will be awarding AIM High their grant money on October 4th at the annual AIM High Kickoff, is a quarter-billion-dollar campaign dedicated to helping more students graduate for high school. The ultimate goal of the program is to, “ensure the country is better prepared to meet global competition” as skilled and educated workers become more and more crucial to the economy. Since its launch in 2008, the program has actively worked toward attaining these goals, investing more than $100 million in their initiative.

AT&T’s support of AIM High will, undoubtedly, further the causes of both and provide a meaningful, lasting impact on the lives of one hundred students.

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