BYEP Scholarships

Challenge and Opportunity

The mission at BYEP is to provide opportunities for vulnerable teenagers in the Gallatin Valley to experience success. Our participants face a series of obstacles including poverty, social isolation, depression, drug and alcohol abuse, and low self esteem. BYEP has worked hard over the last 18 years to develop a social emotional learning curriculum with outdoor adventures and group mentorship to help young people build the skills, and confidence to be successful. Our program is proven to have a significant impact on self esteem, confidence, internalized locus of control, communication skills, and healthy decision making.  

Participants leave BYEP with the motivation and skills to be successful; however, often times, financial barriers hinder our kids from obtaining key opportunities to achieve success. For example, 85% of our graduating seniors say they would like to go to college. Only 10% actually attend. In this competitive landscape, our participants will need further education to become successful. We would like to move the needle for our kids by creating more comprehensive support and financial opportunities to make further education possible. 

BYEP Ascent Program
In the Winter of 2021, we extended our Crux program in preparation for the launch of Ascent, a program focused on helping our participants reach their goals and design individualized plans for independence. In our previous model, participants graduated from BYEP before they completed high school. Now, the Crux and Ascent programs will support participants through high school graduation, and into their first year of college to make sure the transition is successful. Workshops will include curriculum on goal setting, independent living, personal finance, FAFSA completion, and writing a comprehensive college application.  

***According to our families, financial barriers continue to be the major limiting factor for higher education opportunities. As a result, we seek to break down this barrier for our families through the BYEP Opportunity Scholarship that will work in conjunction with the Ascent Program. 

The BYEP Opportunity Scholarship
Our hope is to create a scholarship program to increase tangible access for our participants into higher education. This scholarship will provide a $2,000 Hilleman Scholarship match, and/or a 3 to 1 matching scholarship up to $3,000 for each recipient per year for 4 years starting in 2021. This fund is intended to compliment other existing forms of financial aid for our families. 

Hilleman Scholarship Match
The Hilleman Scholarship is a program for underrepresented Montana Residents to attend Montana State University. The scholarship includes a summer leadership session, ongoing mentorship, study abroad opportunities and comprehensive academic support. Given their high level of support, the Hilleman program is the perfect continuation of services to ensure BYEP graduates are successful at MSU. In the fall of 2020, BYEP partnered with Hilleman to provide eligible BYEP Graduates with guaranteed access into the Hilleman program. Participants will need to gain access into MSU, and meet Hilleman Scholarship requirements to be eligible. Once accepted into the program, BYEP and Hilleman will each award $2,000 for a total tuition contribution of $4,000 per year. 

3:1 Matching Scholarship
BYEP will also provide a 3 to 1 matching scholarship up to $3,000 a year for eligible participants. In order to be eligible, BYEP participants must graduate from the Crux Program, graduate from high school, and write an essay to explain their plan for higher education and their goals for the future. Applications will be reviewed annually by an application committee comprised of major donors and BYEP staff members. Students will be eligible for 4 years of support; however, their scholarships will be renewed annually contingent upon a positive in-person progress report with the application committee. 

***In conjunction with this scholarship program, BYEP will launch a new Alumni network to support BYEP graduates and scholarship recipients into their adult lives. This network will include an annual check in and survey to collect longitudinal data on life outcomes including college success, job retention, personal happiness, and median income. 

Scholarship Fund Finances
Our goal is to provide scholarships for 8 cohorts of BYEP Graduates to obtain higher education. In each cohort, we’d like to provide scholarships for 25% of our 20 graduates. Each recipient will be eligible for a 3:1 scholarship and a Hilleman Scholarship.

Our goal is to raise $650,000 to fund five Hilleman match scholarships and five 3:1 scholarships per year for 8 cohorts of BYEP graduates. We are seeking 6 generous donors to finance this project by May of 2021 to get the scholarship ready for our current graduates who are actively researching their paths into higher education. 

For more information and to support BYEP’s scholarship fund, contact our Executive Director Danica Jamison at danica@byep.org