Marlene Ibsen, vice president of community relations for Travelers, says the program does more than supply a scholarship to deserving students. It involves mentoring and provides practical experience in the financial-services industry.

“We are trying to help students that historically have not been able to get a college education and increase their chances for success,” says Ibsen.

She says the Travelers program began five years ago, in partnership with educational institutions in Hartford, Conn.; St. Paul, Minn.; and Baltimore.

The program is a mix of scholarships and collaboration with students and educators, offering support to students and investing time to help nurture them, Ibsen says.

Pell Institute notes that Travelers EDGE scholarships are not awarded to students based on need. Instead, the aim is “to reach a diverse set of students currently under-represented in [insurance and financial services] careers.”

By default, says Ibsen, many of those students turn out to be from low-income families or are first-generation college students.

To date, Ibsen says EDGE has given financial support to 195 candidates resulting in 66 of them obtaining degrees. Of that number, 16 have been hired by Travelers.

Eventually, the program's aim is to reach down into lower grades and begin the process of preparing future generations for a career path in insurance and financial services.

Travelers, says Ibsen, is hopeful other corporations will become interested in creating similar programs for their professions. She adds that the carrier welcomes discussing with other business institutions how to develop programs to promote their professions and help fund students' education.

“It is not purely a recruiting tool,” says Ibsen. “Hiring these students is just one of 12 or 13 overall goals that we have set for the program with the partners, so that there is student impact, community impact and company impact. And under company [impact], hiring the talent, which is incredibly important to us, is only one thing that we track and measure, but it doesn't define the whole program.”