Students at the University of Pennsylvania are being offered a virtual work-study employment opportunity as part of the school’s agreement with the online tutoring platform We Succeed.
Under the agreement, the company will hire high-achieving college students to provide tutoring services to K-12 students. Qualified students will no longer need to go out of their house or dormitories to earn extra money, as all interactions with clients will take place online.
We Succeed explained that the initiative will help college students finish their degrees without worrying about how they will pay their tuition. The program will also allow them to help younger students access quality educational support.
“Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual tutoring has been a critical lifeline to students of all ages,” We Succeed President Zahid Mustafa said in a press release. “Many college students have realized they can support younger students who need learning support, and do so from the convenience of their home or college dorm.”
Once accepted, students will have the chance to provide tutoring on subjects including Chemistry, Mathematics, English/Literacy, Biology, History/Social Studies, Earth Science, Physics, and Spanish. They will also be allowed to work up to 20 hours per week each semester.
‘Win-Win’ Approach
A study conducted by Horace Mann and reported by CNBC has found that 97 percent of educators are seeing some learning loss in their students over the past year. Around 57 percent of educators also say their students are behind by more than three months in their social-emotional progress.
With such alarming statistics in mind, We Succeed said it wants to create a “win-win” solution to educational inequality, explaining that the new agreement with Penn could address this by providing monetary assistance to college students and boosting the success rates of underserved K-12 students.