NEED (Negro Educational Emergency Drive)

NEED is a college and career access program offering programs and services designed to help our region's underrepresented, first-generation, and low-income youth aspire to, learn about, prepare for and complete higher education. NEED's vision is to unlock the power of education by helping underserved youth meet their highest potential and enhance their quality of life through education, thereby strengthening the regional economy.

NEED's flagship program awards nearly one million dollars a year to eligible students in order to fill the gaps when all local, state, and federal college funding sources have been exhausted. Many of the students receiving Last Dollar Grants are first-generational, low income, at-risk students.