(PASSAIC, NJ) -- More Than Bootstraps (MTB), a New Jersey non-profit dedicated to helping low-income, first-generation students access and succeed in higher education, has received a $2,500 grant award from the the PSEG Foundation's Neighborhood Partners Program (NPP).

More Than Bootstraps was selected to receive the grant based on its four successful years of working to address the challenges first-generation, low-income students face in accessing and succeeding in higher education. MTB’s partner district, the Passaic Public Schools, serves students underrepresented in higher education: low-income, Latinx, and first-generation. This is the second year that the PSEG Foundation has supported MTB.

MTB builds on students’ strengths and the power of near-peer mentoring to create a sustainable pathway to and through college. The organization trains first-generation college students attending institutions ranging from William Paterson University to Dartmouth College to serve as mentors to high school juniors and seniors in the Passaic Public Schools. College student mentors meet weekly with their high school mentees and follow a curriculum of activities focused on personal and professional development, college and financial aid awareness, communication with families, and wellness and mental health.

Grants and donations to More Than Bootstraps fund monthly and summer stipends that allow the high school and college students in the program time and space to devote to their professional development and college-going activities while still meeting their financial responsibilities.

“The boost we’re offering helps students keep academics a top priority. Without it, many might be overwhelmed by economic pressures. This is an experience I personally faced while navigating college as a first-generation student, ” said Maria Spina, manager, PSEG Foundation and Corporate Social Responsibility. “The MTB College Access and Success Program uplifts young people while helping remove obstacles, and is well-aligned with our focus on education.”

“We are enormously grateful to the PSEG Foundation for their continued partnership,” said Audrey Fisch, president of More Than Bootstraps. “After four years, we remain confident that our innovative model can achieve significant outcomes for our underserved students.”

Grants and donations to More Than Bootstraps fund the monthly stipends that allow the high school and college students in the program some time and space to devote to their professional development and college-going activities while still meeting their financial responsibilities. Interested donors are invited to visit the MTB website.

More Than Bootstraps is a nonprofit created by educators seeking to level the playing field and remove some of the substantial barriers that first-generation college students encounter in accessing and succeeding in higher education. More Than Bootstraps employs a near-peer mentoring model to create a community of success. College students from the community return to guide their younger peers in the community through the college search, application, and assimilation process. These leaders, working as a mentoring cohort, in turn strengthen their own college-going identities and improve their own chances of success in higher education.

Students are selected based on their desire to attend college and their commitment to the program rather than grade point average or test scores. All students in the MTB program receive stipends, laptop computers, and access to emergency resources to help them with the many non-tuition expenses of higher education.