Abigail Seldin
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Abigail Pamela Seldin (born January 1988) is an American philanthropist, higher education expert, and
edtech Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning and teaching. When referred to with its abbreviation, "EdTech", ...
entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...
. She is Chief Growth Officer at Scholarship America and co-founder of the Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation, having previously served as its CEO. She is known for founding College Abacus, a net price calculator aggregator company, which she sold to Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC Group). In 2020, she founded SwiftStudent, a free financial aid tool for students.


Early life and education

Seldin was born in January 1988 to Judith Seldin-Cohen and David Seldin. She attended
Phillips Academy Phillips Academy (also known as PA, Phillips Academy Andover, or simply Andover) is a Private school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational college-preparatory school for Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day students located in ...
, followed by the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
and graduated in 2009 with a BA and MS degree in
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...
. While in college, Seldin curated a gallery exhibition, ''Fulfilling a Prophecy: The Past and Present of the Lenape in Pennsylvania'', at the Penn Museum. The exhibit highlighted how the cultural heritage of the
Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...
people survived their displacement after contact with European settlers in the 17th century. In 2008, Seldin was awarded a
Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...
to attend
Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
, where she pursued a
DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in
social anthropology Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...
. However, she did not complete this degree. She completed a
fellowship A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...
in cultural heritage tourism at
Hong Kong Tourism Board The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) is a Government-subverted body founded in 2001. The HKTB replaced the Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA) that was established in 1957. It has 15 branch offices and representative offices in 6 markets aro ...
as a
Henry Luce Scholar A Luce Scholar is a recipient of a cultural exchange and vocational fellowship sponsored by the Henry Luce Foundation, a private foundation established by Time, Inc. founder Henry R. Luce. The program Founded in 1974, The Luce Scholars Progra ...
. In 2015, she was named to the
Forbes 30 Under 30 ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists published annually by ''Forbes'' magazine since 2011 consisting of 30 notable people under 30 years old in various industries. The American list consists of 600 people, with 30 selected in each of 20 sect ...
list in the Education category.


Career

In 2012, Seldin and her husband, Whitney Haring-Smith, co-founded College Abacus, a web tool that allows prospective students to compare individualized
financial aid Student financial aid in the United States is funding that is available exclusively to students attending a post-secondary educational institution in the United States. This funding is used to assist in covering the many costs incurred in purs ...
packages from American colleges and universities. She served as chief executive officer until it was acquired by ECMC Group, a student loan collection agency, in 2014. After the acquisition, she served as VP of Innovation at the Washington DC office of ECMC Group. Under Seldin's leadership, debt-repayment and other data from the Obama Administration's
College Scorecard The College Scorecard is an online tool, created by the United States government, for consumers to compare the cost and value of higher education institutions in the United States. At launch, it displayed data in five areas: cost, graduation rate ...
initiative were incorporated into College Abacus. Seldin was a candidate for the role of chief operating officer for the Office of Federal Student Aid during the
Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 46th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Joe Biden, his inauguration on January 20, 2021, and ended on January 20, 2025. Biden, a member of the Democr ...
. In 2021, Seldin published a research report on fraud and links to sex trafficking in certain schools which offer massage therapy certification. The report on sex trafficking and federal financial aid, which studied 18 institutions in five states, was cited as a rationale for an investigation by the
United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the main investigative United States congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one o ...
in summer 2021. In January 2024, Seldin became Chief Growth Officer at Scholarship America. Seldin currently serves on the board of Open Campus, and Association of American Rhodes Scholars. She previously served on the boards of the
Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...
Hope Center, the
Montgomery College Montgomery College (MC) is a Public college, public community college in Montgomery County, Maryland. The school was founded in 1946 as Montgomery Junior College. Four years later, it absorbed the 57-year-old Bliss Electrical School, which b ...
Foundation. She frequently writes on the topics of educational policy and student financial aid, as seen in a number of publications, including ''
HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
'', ''The Hill'',
Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive and liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, includ ...
, ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...
'', and ''
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''.


Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation

In 2019, she co-founded the Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation, a charitable organization In a 2021 interview, Seldin described how she and her husband were inspired to found the foundation because of what they saw as an opportunity to fund nonprofit organizations that could help reform both policy and public opinion. The Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation helped to establish a partnership between the National Head Start Association and the
Association of Community College Trustees The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) is a non-profit educational organization representing more than 6,500 elected and appointed trustees who govern more than 1,200 community colleges in the United States. ACCT provides members wi ...
which is relocating Head Start centers to community college campuses in the United States. This initiative is intended to increase the availability of on-campus childcare and reverse the trend of declining enrollment and staffing shortages at Head Start centers. The first Head Start relocation associated with the project opened in August 2023.


SwiftStudent

During the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, the Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation created a no-cost online service called SwiftStudent, to help students submit a financial aid appeal to their institution's aid office. SwiftStudent was named a finalist in ''
Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...
'''s World Changing Ideas Awards. As of 2020, the Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation had partnered with 17 colleges and higher education organizations to test features of SwiftStudent with focus groups of students and financial aid officers. SwiftStudent is operated by FormSwift, which was acquired by
Dropbox Dropbox is a file hosting service operated by the American company Dropbox, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, California, that offers cloud storage, file synchronization, personal cloud, and Client (computing), client software. Dropbox w ...
in 2022.


Civic Mapping Initiative

The SHSF released the SHSF Public Transit Map in 2021, which found that 57% of community colleges were accessible by public transit and an additional 25% could be made accessible by extending existing bus lines. In 2022, the SHSF launched the Civic Mapping Initiative, a research center which maps the accessibility of
public transit Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of wh ...
and identifies opportunities for improving accessibility through public policy. The initiative has published analyses and interactive maps of public transit access to community colleges across the United States, as well as statewide and regional maps. The SHSF Public Transit Map map was cited in the introduction of the bipartisan Promoting Advancement Through Transit Help (PATH) to College Act in 2021. The Civic Mapping Initiative's work was cited in the PATH to College Act's reintroduction in 2023. The initiative has also partnered with the National Head Start Association to map the distances between public transit stops and Head Start centers. The Civic Mapping Initiative's findings have led to collaboration between local and national organizations in several states to relocate bus stops closer to Head Start centers, to make the centers more accessible to students and parents. The cities of
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
and
Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...
attributed their decisions to relocate transit stops closer to Head Start centers to data provided by the Civic Mapping Initiative. The Civic Mapping Initiative was acquired by the
National League of Cities The National League of Cities (NLC) is an American advocacy organization that represents the country's 19,495 cities, towns, and villages along with 49 state municipal leagues. Created in 1924, it has evolved into a membership organization provi ...
in December 2023.


Personal life

Seldin met fellow Rhodes Scholar Whitney Haring-Smith in 2009 and they married in Florida in 2012.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seldin, Abigail Phillips Academy alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford American Rhodes Scholars American technology company founders American women company founders American company founders Living people 1988 births 21st-century American women American women philanthropists