Our Mission

The 85 Patriot Fund is a 501(c)(3) charitable fund whose mission is to provide college-aged students who have lost a parent or who come from a single-parent household with financial assistance to pursue opportunities of higher education. By lessening the financial burden for these students, we aim to make higher education more accessible, positively impacting the lives of our recipients and setting them up for future success.

The Statistics

• The death of a parent is very prevalent among college students; roughly every two years, 360,000 college students will lose a parent in the U.S. ¹
• The loss of a parent and subsequent bereavement can greatly affect a student’s life—it can be difficult to handle emotionally and can negatively affect schoolwork.²
• A national survey found that 1 in 9 kids (11%) loses at least one parent or guardian before age 20. When comparing those who lost a parent before age 20 and those who did not, the survey found that those who lose a parent before age 20 are more likely to have only completed high school, and are less likely to have obtained a bachelor’s degree or graduate degree.³
• Overall, 38% of students drop out of college due to financial shortcomings for their college education.⁴ Finances can be greatly impacted when a parent is lost during college.