financial-aid
(9)
Hispanic Scholarship Fund
The Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) is a national nonprofit, founded in 1975, that empowers Latino families with the knowledge and resources to complete a higher education, while providing scholarships and support services to as many students as possible. Beyond financial awards ranging from $500 to $5,000, HSF connects roughly 10,000 selected Scholars each year to mentoring, career conferences, internships and employer partners. Through 2022 it had distributed more than $700 million in scholarships, and it now serves over 40,000 Scholars, alumni, parents and community members annually across the United States and Puerto Rico.
Scholarships360
Scholarships360 is a free, data-driven platform that helps students and families find and fund college. Founded by first-generation college students Will and Brian Geiger, it matches students with vetted scholarships, hosts its own $10,000 'No Essay' scholarship, and pairs listings with expert financial aid and admissions advice. The company says over 15 million students have discovered scholarships and colleges through the platform, with more than 5 million matched in 2025 alone.
Bold.org
Bold.org is a venture-backed platform on a mission to fight student debt by making it effortless for anyone - individuals, families, companies, and foundations - to create, fund, and manage scholarships, fellowships, and grants. Free for both students and donors, it pairs a two-sided marketplace with the nonprofit Bold Foundation, which holds donations in escrow and sends funds directly to students' schools. Since 2020 it has channeled tens of millions of dollars in tax-deductible financial aid to thousands of students.
Will Geiger
Will Geiger is the cofounder and CEO of Scholarships360, a free platform that helps students find and win scholarships to pay for college. A first-generation college graduate himself, he spent nearly a decade inside the admissions machine - reading more than 10,000 applications as a Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at Kenyon College, running its merit scholarship program, and counseling teenagers through the college maze at Hopkins School - before teaming up with his brother Brian to rebuild the broken scholarship search from scratch. Scholarships360 raised a $250,000 seed round in 2021 and now reaches students nationwide with vetted scholarships and personalized financial aid guidance.
Funding U
Funding U (legally Funding University) is an Atlanta-based fintech lender that gives high-achieving undergraduates private student loans without a cosigner and without relying on FICO scores. Instead of judging students by their family's credit or wealth, the company underwrites loans using academic performance, progress toward a degree, likelihood of graduating, and projected earnings - factors a student actually controls. Founded in 2015 by Jeannie Tarkenton, Funding U aims to serve low- and moderate-income students that traditional private lenders won't touch, positioning its product as a responsible 'last-gap' option that fills the space left after grants, federal aid, and scholarships run out.
Meadow
Meadow is a New York-based fintech building modern financial engagement tools for higher education. Its platform helps colleges and universities communicate costs clearly, collect tuition, and support students from application through graduation - spanning a student-friendly net price calculator (Meadow Price), mobile billing and flexible payment plans (Meadow Pay), and compassionate balance recovery (Meadow Pre). Used by 300+ institutions, Meadow raised a $14M Series A led by Matrix Partners in April 2025.
Alfredo Brillembourg
Alfredo Brillembourg is the cofounder and CEO of Meadow, a New York fintech rebuilding how American students pay for college. After a missed tuition deadline locked him out of registration as an undergraduate, he traded a finance track that ran through Goldman Sachs, Bowery Capital, and NEA for the unglamorous plumbing of campus billing. Meadow now serves over 170 colleges and universities, has delivered nearly a million net-price estimates, and raised a $14M Series A led by Matrix Partners in 2025.
Mission College
Mission College is a public community college in Santa Clara, in the heart of Silicon Valley, part of the West Valley-Mission Community College District. Founded in 1975, it offers associate degrees, university-transfer pathways, career and technical certificates, ESL and noncredit courses to a diverse, largely working-adult student body. Through its Mission Promise program it offers free tuition to district residents and wraps students in support services - food, childcare, mental-health counseling and more - to remove the barriers that keep people from finishing.
Conor Smith
Conor Smith is the CEO of Campus Connect Group, a Miami-based EdTech holding company that acquires, operates, and scales mission-critical software and services for higher education institutions. With an MBA from MIT Sloan and a background in entrepreneurship spanning Southeast Asia and North American software markets, Smith has built Campus Connect into a multi-product platform spanning financial aid, student information systems, enrollment management, and campus operations — serving colleges and universities across the United States.