INeedAPencil.com, led by Harvard University students in Cambridge, MA, now offers free SAT preparation materials in its mission to improve college access for low-income students. The website launched in April 2007 when its founder was still in high school.
Every year, over one million low and middle-income American students take the SAT exam and score an average of 218 points below their high-income counterparts. This income-moderated SAT score gap is cause for serious concern: 218 points can make or break college admissions and scholarship opportunities for these students, who are already at a socioeconomic disadvantage, thus perpetuating widespread inequities.
Simple preparation can eliminate this gap. By providing this preparation to all students, we can make succeeding on the SAT exam a fair and realistic possibility.
INeedAPencil.com‘s free test prep platform is highly scalable and universally-accessible. It leverages existing networks of community-based organizations across America to ensure that each student has the resources necessary to succeed on the SAT and beyond. INeedAPencil has already served over 24,000 students and is rapidly expanding to reach the 1.2 million low and middle-income students who take the test each year.
Since the company’s founding, INeedAPencil has grown steadily and attracted increasing attention. In 2007 it was first selected for a McKelvey Foundation grant. In March 2009, the venture won Harvard College’s i3 Business Plan Competition, earning the McKinley Family Grant for Social Enterprise and gaining valuable recognition in the community.
Shortly thereafter, INeedAPencil was featured in both The Harvard Crimson and the Orlando Sentinel. In light of this publicity, the company received partnership inquiries and other varied forms of attention that has been beneficial to its growth. In April 2009, the company was selected as a finalist in the Dell Social Innovation Competition.
The company’s plans for growth include re-designing its user interface, offering a more structured curriculum, and expanding its array of services.
