Who Are Aim Higher Scholars: A Closer Look

By: Ricky Austin

Last month, we shared some important and exciting news: our Board of Directors approved 2,900 Aim Higher Scholarships for next school year—our 10th year in a row of growth and our second largest single-year increase ever.

The kind of momentum we have as an organization doesn’t just happen. It’s possible because of you, our supporters and friends, and it’s possible because a growing number of people see the need and feel the urgency of the work we do. Too many children don’t have access to the quality of education they deserve. And the Aim Higher Foundation is changing that.

Two weeks ago, at our board’s strategic planning retreat, I challenged our directors to think of anything in their lives where they are directly connected to 2,900 individual people. It’s a big number and hard to imagine in our minds.

Here are some ways to help you visualize it:

• 2,900 students is more than 15% of all K-8 students in Catholic schools in the Twin Cities
• We could fill 11 average-sized schools with just Aim Higher Scholars
• If we brought all the Aim Higher Scholars to the Xcel Energy Center, we would fill the entire lower bowl.

Who are these 2,900 students? Based on this year’s cohort of 2,550 scholars, we know that:

• ~65% of Aim Higher Scholars are children of color
• $35,390 is the average income for a new scholar family of four
• 20% are new to Catholic schools this year—and over 90% of the previous cohort returned this year.
• More than 2/3rds say they couldn’t attend without our scholarship, and the remaining said they would have to make significant and uncomfortable sacrifices to make it work.

From the nearly 7,000 applications we received for the 2,900 scholarships we are able to award for 2025-26 school year, another 3,000 students are eligible. Their stories are powerful—and humbling.

Parents are working multiple jobs. They often report making sacrifices and having to choose between mortgages, utilities, tuition, and groceries. They’re caring for aging parents, sharing one car, and navigating medical crises.

Still, they show up—grateful for the support we provide and so deeply committed to giving their kids a better future through a Catholic education.

Thanks to you, these families and their 2,900 children have hope. They have access to schools that care for the whole child—academically, spiritually, and personally. And they have a chance for a better future.

Thank you for helping open doors for these families.

Ricky Austin is the president of the Aim Higher Foundation..

In Service,