College Grit Program Celebrates and Rewards Student Stories of Resilience

New initiative from Course Hero provides financial rewards to acknowledge the everyday heroic effort it takes students to succeed in higher education

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Course Hero

Oct 19, 2021, 09:00 ET

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Oct. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Course Hero, the popular learning platform used by a global community of students and educators, today announced The College Grit program, an initiative aimed at supporting and acknowledging students and the everyday challenges they overcome while on their journey to graduation.

College Grit Program Celebrates and Rewards Student Stories of Resilience

Reaching graduation is more complicated than ever for many students, and COVID-19 has only exacerbated challenges faced by the new majority of students who are working while in school (64%); have children or someone depending on them (24%); or are unsure of where they will get their next meal (36%). In an era where just 11% of young people from low-income backgrounds earn a bachelor's degree by 24, it is essential students feel supported and encouraged as they advance towards graduation.

"I'm honored to be featured, and I hope to play a small role in helping other students see that even in the darkest of times, inspiration can be found. I hope my story inspires others to have the courage to continue pursuing their college dreams," said Lauren Pike, a student at University of Georgia. "Regardless of what adversity you might be facing or what challenges occur throughout your life, I hope you'll share your story and allow others to be inspired by you."

The College Grit program, which builds on the company's student hero scholarship and emergency aid programs, invites students to share their stories of grit, however big or small, and be rewarded for their courage, strength, and ingenuity. Beginning today, current students will be able to submit their stories through TikTok and Instagram either as a video or an image and each week between today and the end of the year, six students will be selected to win a $500 cash award. The program also celebrates students with a daily giveaway where one student will be selected to win a free Course Hero subscription for a year.

"The college journey is full of hurdles that can have a significant impact on whether students complete their studies. I am routinely amazed by the resilience of today's students and how they remain focused and more determined than ever," said Andrew Grauer, Co-founder and CEO of Course Hero. "We are on a mission to help students graduate confident and prepared, and the College Grit program supports that. We want to showcase and reward stories of adaptation and success and hope these stories will further inspire and motivate others who are facing similar challenges."

To help launch the program, Course Hero collaborated with Believe in Students and faculty from LA Valley Community College and Milwaukee Area Technical College who nominated three students to be recognized with a College Grit Award. The recipients, Jan Manla, Samira Hassan and Rebecca Castanaza each have amazing stories and are featured on coursehero.com/collegegrit, along with other stories from Hero Student Scholarship winners.

In 2020, Course Hero launched the Hero Student Scholarship program to help ensure students had access to the financial support necessary to allow them to stay on track to graduation providing eligible students $5,000/year until graduation. To date, 90 students have received $200,000 in scholarships. The company also launched an Emergency Aid Fund to support pandemic-impacted students.

To learn more about College Grit, visit: http://coursehero.com/collegegrit and submit your own story.

About Course Hero: Course Hero is on a mission to help students make every study hour count, and graduate confident and prepared. Our online learning platform now offers more than 70 million course-specific study resources created by and for students and educators, as well as 24/7 tutor help. The range of learning materials includes practice problems, study guides, textbook solutions, videos, class notes, and step-by-step explanations for every subject. More than 70,000 faculty across the U.S. and Canada use Course Hero to share their resources with the community, collaborate with other faculty, and hone new strategies for instruction.

SOURCE Course Hero