A girl faces significant barriers to education in many parts of the world. School may be far from home, the necessary clothes and supplies may be too expensive, or she may have responsibilities helping her family to farm or make a living. Room to Read works with families to provide practical solutions. When school is far from home, a bicycle or bus pass can do the trick. Providing supplies and school uniforms lifts the financial burden off a family, and Social Mobilizers serve as mentors, providing encouragement and tutoring – extra support to keep girls’ educational careers and professional aspirations on track.

Your Gift Gets Doubled

A group of generous Girls' Education supporters will match your online donations made to the program through the end of May up to $350,000.00. Those matching funds will unlock an additional one thousand years of education and support for girls!

Providing girls with one extra year of education beyond the average boosts their annual earning potential by 10-20%.

What it Costs...

Girls are encouraged to remain in our Girls' Education program through completion of secondary school. We work hard to find innovative ways to keep costs low and deliver high-quality services to those girls on our program —working to guarantee that each girl will receive the support she deserves. Program costs and services vary depending on local needs and economics. The table below illustrates some elements of our Girls' Education program and their cost (averaged across all program countries).

Representative Program Costs USD ($)
Shoes and socks for six girls $25
A bicycle to get to and from school $50
School uniforms for eight girls $50
Educational Workbooks for 50 girls $75
Tutoring and mentoring programs $100
One year of support $250
Boarding near school (10 months) $500
Ten years of support $2,500

On average, an educated girl grows up to reinvest 90% of her wages in her family's health, education and nutrition.

Your Gift Gets Doubled

Help us provide an additional 1,000 years of Girls' Education.  All gifts made between now and May 31 are doubled up to $350,000.