Page Education Foundation

Our Mission

Education gives people the power of choice.  The power of choice is the power of liberty.  Recognizing that disparities in academic opportunity deny children of color choice and liberty, Diane and Alan Page started the Page Education Foundation in 1988.

The Foundation's goal is to encourage, motivate, and assist Minnesota's students of color in pursuing post-secondary education and, in the process, change the future.  The Foundation achieves that goal by doing two things. First, by providing financial assistance to students pursuing post-secondary education. Second, and most important, by requiring its Page Scholars to work with young children, kindergarten through eighth grade, specifically in the area of education.

By having this requirement, everybody wins-our scholars, the young children they mentor, and the community. Our Scholars send a clear, strong message to those young children by word and by deed that education is a tool that can be used to achieve one's dreams.  And the children see someone who looks like them, who may have some shared experiences, who is reliable, who works hard, and who takes an interest in their well-being, using education as a tool for success.

The first year the Foundation had 10 Page Scholars; now we have more than 500 annually.  Since then, the Foundation has awarded over $16 million in grants to more than 8,000 Page Scholars. Those Page Scholars have volunteered nearly 500,000 hours, working with 50,000 children across Minnesota. In the end, our Scholars are bending the moral arc of the universe towards justice.

Our Programs

Page Grant

The Page Grant is our scholarship program awarded to students of color who graduate from a Minnesota high school and attend a Minnesota post-secondary institution. Students at all levels of academic achievement seeking to pursue a two or 4-year degree at a Minnesota college or university who agree to complete annual service projects with children can qualify for a grant. Each year, 1,000 students apply for Page Grants from 250 Minnesota high schools, colleges, and universities. We specifically target students of color who are unlikely to pursue post-secondary education due to barriers like lack of financial resources and average grades. For the 2022-2023 academic year, we are committed to providing 585 Page Scholars $1.4 in Page Grants.  

In 35 years, over $16 million in Page Grants have been awarded to 8,000 Minnesota students studying at over 100 post-secondary schools across the state. Overall, 63% of Page Scholars will graduate from their respective programs in 5 years or less. - a rate that exceeds the national average for students of color. Page Scholars also graduate with an average student debt of 52% less than the national average of $36,500 per borrower. We believe that this is the result of holistic programming efforts that do not simply send a financial payment to a college or university but rather invest in the lives and development of Page Scholars. 

Service to Children

Our Service to Children program requires each Page Scholar to volunteer for a minimum of 50 hours of tutoring and mentoring children in kindergarten through 8th grade.  With a focus on literacy, tutoring, and mentoring, Page Scholars encourage children of color to view education as a positive and exciting goal.  As a result, 500,000 service hours have been performed by Page Scholars since 1988.  Over the course of 35 years this is an estimated dollar value of $11 million contributed to Minnesota communities. Services performed by Page Scholars impact approximately 8,000 Minnesota children each year and 325 schools and community sites across Minnesota. Many Page Scholars contribute more than the required service hours and even continue volunteering in the community after their post-secondary education is completed.  

Page Connections

Page Connections is our professional development program creating concrete pathways to meaningful employment post-graduation. Page Connections reduces the racial disparities in graduate employment outcomes by matching Page Scholars with professional mentors in the community through our College, Coffee, and Conversations mentoring series, expanding professional networks, developing soft skills and leadership skills through workshops and webinars, and sharing information and access to internship and employment opportunities through our sub-program, Accelerate. Last year, Page Connections provided Page Scholars with over 100 internships, employment, and volunteer opportunities.