Santander | 1.5 Minute Read

Hundreds of low-income students and families recently received laptops – and a greater chance to prosper – thanks to a partnership between Santander Consumer (SC) and Dallas nonprofit Comp-U-Dopt. This marks the beginning of a $35 million multi-year grant from the Santander Consumer USA Inc. Foundation aimed at closing the digital divide and providing financial empowerment.

The program will begin with a $7 million investment in Dallas and expand to other communities SC serves to distribute a total of 7,500 laptops. The initiative will connect student households below the 200 percent federal poverty level with computers, free high-speed internet access, bilingual help desk support and digital literacy training. It’s expected that more than 80 percent of computer recipient households in Dallas earn less than $50,000 a year with an average family size of more than four people.

The pandemic has put the spotlight on the digital divide – the gap between those who have access to computers, smartphones, and the internet and those who don’t. More than 40 percent of lower-income households do not have reliable high-speed internet access or a computer, according to a 2021 Pew Research Institute study.

This is just one of many initiatives SC is undertaking to help bring financial and educational empowerment to our communities. Comp-U-Dopt aims to service 10,000 Dallas households in 2022 and 2023.