Edu4All is a project created in partnership with Let’s Get Together, aiming to lower financial barriers accessing higher education for students across Ontario.
My contribution included research, managing the design process, and team coordination. I also worked closely with the developer to ensure the implementation of important details that mattered to our stakeholders.
We designed a centralized platform that combines scholarship and bursary listings, financial literacy courses covering budgeting, borrowing, and funding tips, and a sign-up portal for in-person workshops hosted by our partner.
By making resources like grants, work-study programs, and budgeting tools more visible and accessible, the platform helps students choose funding options that suit them best, avoid unnecessary debt, and plan ahead for repayment.
To better understand the current landscape of accessibility in higher education, we reviewed literature and media sources to investigate the necessity in addressing this issue and explore alternative financing models such as income-share agreements (ISAs), crowdfunding, microloans, and employer-sponsored education.
Building on these findings, we conducted a survey with York University students to validate our assumptions and better understand students’ familiarity with funding options and financial literacy resources.
Yes
No
Maybe
57.5% struggled to qualify for scholarships & grants, 45% felt lack of guidance
72.5% have never taken a financial literacy course, but more than 57.5% want to
61.5% want notifications for progress and opportunity updates
Yes
No
90% were unaware of ISAs, but some found appeal in:
Although many students expressed interest in learning more about Income Share Agreements (ISAs), our deeper research revealed that implementing ISAs would require complex policymaking at a broader institutional or governmental level. We also found criticism and controversy surrounding existing ISA programs. After careful evaluation, we decided not to pursue this solution further.
The project has now been handed over to our partner organization, Let’s Get Together (LGT), who will manage its future development. Future partnerships formed by LGT can build on the foundation we’ve created to further grow the initiative. Potential next steps include:
Each one of the challenges we faced in this project pushed us to think more critically and adapt to real world constraints. Since our partner is a nonprofit organization with limited staff, technical expertise, and resources, we had to tailor our approach to ensure the final outcome would be feasible for them to manage after handoff.
Time was also a major constraint. With only a few months to work on the project, we broke down our vision into smaller phases and focused on delivering a functional MVP. We hope that future teams will carry on to build upon this foundation we’ve laid.
This project taught me a valuable lesson in balancing goals with reality, and knowing when to push forward and when to adapt to the hand we’ve been dealt.