Higher education
The Fundación Zuá focuses on higher education as a key tool to break the cycle of poverty.
Our strategy
Fundación Zuá is based on comprehensive support for young people in vulnerable situations, providing financial, academic, and emotional support to help them access and remain in university. The program offers tuition and university transportation, as well as tutoring, psychosocial counseling, and volunteering opportunities to strengthen their skills and leadership. It also promotes a mentorship and career guidance system to ensure that students complete their studies and achieve successful employment integration.
High School Diploma
This stage of the process for joining the higher education program was created in response to the high number of young people and single mothers who have not been able to complete their high school education due to various economic difficulties, time constraints, and other challenges that have distanced them from the formal educational system.
For them, Fundación Zuá offers the opportunity to enroll in a formal validation program, certified by the Department of Education, ensuring an appropriate academic process for those who wish to finish their high school and later continue with higher education.
In exchange, the beneficiaries must contribute 20 hours of support to children with their academic tasks and reinforce basic subjects.
University
Fundación Zuá finances university studies for the best students who finish secondary school, on the condition that they dedicate part of their time to tutoring children in the educational process. This program started in 2007, marking a turning point in the lives of young people who had never considered university as a possibility.
The Foundation covers university tuition fees up to 3.5 million pesos each semester in exchange for 4 hours a day spent assisting the children and young people of Fundación Zuá. Thanks to this initiative, 40 young people have obtained university degrees funded by the foundation and 14 young people are currently enrolled in university.
The impact has been profound: families have understood the importance of higher education, children see their tutors as role models, and the quality of learning has improved. Today, alumni lead programs within the Foundation and continue their professional growth, demonstrating that education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty.
Pre-university
Since 2014, Fundación Zuá has offered a free two-semester pre-university program to prepare young people in vulnerable situations and improve their opportunities to enter university, preferably public ones. In exchange, students dedicate 20 hours per week as assistant tutors.
With limited spots available at its urban and rural campuses, the program targets those who are neither studying nor working due to lack of resources and poor academic performance. Thanks to this initiative, 10 young people have entered public universities, optimizing the Foundation’s resources to support even more students.
Pre-university and university – Joven Porvenir del Cauca
The Joven Porvenir del Cauca program started in 2018 at the Senderos rural campus with the goal of offering access to higher education opportunities to young people from the Cauca department, who, due to family difficulties and lack of resources, scored very low on the Saber Tests.
The only path left for them, unless they had this opportunity provided by the Foundation, was to be recruited by the violent groups operating in that region.
The Foundation seeks to improve the academic preparation of university aspirants, which is why they begin with one year of pre-university studies, consisting of virtual classes provided by volunteer teachers who generously share their knowledge to strengthen the academic skills of the youth in subjects like mathematics, technology, English, and critical reading.
The youth have a strong desire to pursue a university career, and once the pre-university program is completed, they can enter public universities based on their score from the Saber Test. If that is not possible, the Foundation finances their studies at a private university with support of up to 3.5 million pesos.
The program has positively impacted 31 young people, who are currently pursuing university studies. Some receive direct support from the Foundation, while others, thanks to the boost provided by the pre-university program, have continued their studies in fields such as Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, Industrial and Mechanical Engineering, Nursing, Mathematics Education, English Education, and Psychology.
In return, at the rural campus, these young people support the development of productive pedagogical projects such as rabbit farming, coffee cultivation, beekeeping, cocoa, and avocado, among others, and perform daily tasks related to food preparation and organizing the campus.
Pre-university and university – Joven Porvenir del Cauca
The Joven Porvenir del Cauca program started in 2018 at the Senderos rural campus with the goal of offering access to higher education opportunities to young people from the Cauca department, who, due to family difficulties and lack of resources, scored very low on the Saber Tests.
The only path left for them, unless they had this opportunity provided by the Foundation, was to be recruited by the violent groups operating in that region.
The Foundation seeks to improve the academic preparation of university aspirants, which is why they begin with one year of pre-university studies, consisting of virtual classes provided by volunteer teachers who generously share their knowledge to strengthen the academic skills of the youth in subjects like mathematics, technology, English, and critical reading.
The youth have a strong desire to pursue a university career, and once the pre-university program is completed, they can enter public universities based on their score from the Saber Test. If that is not possible, the Foundation finances their studies at a private university with support of up to 3.5 million pesos.
The program has positively impacted 31 young people, who are currently pursuing university studies. Some receive direct support from the Foundation, while others, thanks to the boost provided by the pre-university program, have continued their studies in fields such as Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, Industrial and Mechanical Engineering, Nursing, Mathematics Education, English Education, and Psychology.
In return, at the rural campus, these young people support the development of productive pedagogical projects such as rabbit farming, coffee cultivation, beekeeping, cocoa, and avocado, among others, and perform daily tasks related to food preparation and organizing the campus.