2. Wallin
Education
Partners
In the 20 years since he founded the Hays Companies in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jim Hays has led the commercial risk
insurance brokerage to its current position as the fourth-largest
privately held firm of its genre in the country. In addition to risk
management, the company also offers retirement planning,
employee benefits, business consulting services, affinity group
programs, and specialized planning for private clients. Outside the
office, James Hays enthusiastically supports the work of Wallin
Education Partners. In cooperation with this organization, Jim
Hays sponsors scholarships for graduates of his alma mater,
Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis.
3. Wallin
Education
Partners
Wallin Education Partners is not concerned with helping students
get into college, but rather with helping them to stay in college
and graduate. The organization reports that while overall
persistence and graduation rates are depressingly low nationwide
and in Minnesota, those rates are even lower for students who are
the first in their families to attend college, for students of color,
and for students in financial need. Wallin Education Partners’
approach to this situation is to provide students not only with
financial assistance, but also with guidance and active advising.
4. Wallin
Education
Partners
The transition from high school to college can be complex and
confusing. Students are generally faced with the need for self-determination
with respect to choosing classes, and with a great
deal more freedom in most other areas, including scheduling and
social activities. Scholarship recipients are assigned Wallin
Advisors who work with the scholars to help them navigate their
new freedom successfully and who will track their progress to
graduation. Wallin Advisors also work together with school
personnel to help in this effort to ensure that scholars are utilizing
access to all available resources.
5. Wallin
Education
Partners
The results of the Wallin approach are encouraging. Currently,
Wallin Education Partners supports about 600 college students.
Recent 6-year graduation rates were in excess of 85 percent, as
compared with the national average of 59 percent. Further
information about the program is available at its website at
www.wallinpartners.org.
