Temple University offers the Broad Street Finish Line Grant to overseas freshmen considering pursuing an undergraduate degree in the United States. This is one of Temple’s signature grant programs designed to assist students in crossing the finish line toward graduation.
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Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia and its pastor Russell Conwell, a Yale-educated Boston lawyer, orator, and ordained Baptist minister who had served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, founded Temple University in 1884. Conwell arrived in Pennsylvania in 1882 to pastor the Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia, while also instructing working-class individuals late at night to meet their work schedules. These students, afterwards termed “night owls,” were educated in the basement of Conwell’s Baptist Temple (hence the name and mascot of the university).
The Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia immediately became well-known in the North Philadelphia neighborhood. To address the quickly rising formalities involved with the church’s programs, a provisional board of trustees was formed. Russell H. Conwell was named president of “The Temple College” at the board’s inaugural meeting. Within the next few months, Grace Baptist Church appointed a new board of trustees, printed official admissions files, and issued stock to raise funding for new teaching facilities. The church provided classrooms and teachers, as well as funding for the school’s early years.
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Regardless of whether they had the finances to fund the school, The church and Conwell’s objective was “to impart education to those who were unable to acquire it through the conventional channels”.
In addition to congregational giving and college support, Conwell utilized the proceeds from his “Acres of Diamonds” speech to establish Temple as a location where working-class Philadelphians might obtain higher education.
Broad Street Finish Line Grant Program Eligibility Criteria
The Broad Street Finish Line Grant is currently only available to undergraduate students, and it is available to both first-year (i.e., freshmen) and transfer students. Incoming students are automatically considered for this grant at the time of admission and should not apply.
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All applicants must be fluent in English.
Students who are the first generation in their families to graduate from college/university will be given preference.
International countries are eligible.
Undergraduate level
The award is worth up to $5000.
Number of Awards: Unspecified
Application Method:
At the time of admission, all incoming undergraduate students are automatically considered for the Broad Street Finish Line Grant. Incoming students do not need to fill out an application.
Current Temple students (or students on leave from Temple) should fill out this brief application, detailing any financial difficulties they are facing as they reach graduation.
The deadline for applications is February 1, 2023.