Student Sponsor Partners (SSP)

Student Sponsor Partners (SSP) is dedicated to providing a college preparatory, non-public high school education to New York City high school students who live in poverty and face significant barriers to academic success. SSP students come from low-income households, live in underserved communities, and are at risk of falling through the cracks.

In 1986, Peter Flanigan, investment banker and former political advisor, founded SSP to address the high school dropout crisis in New York City, and launched with 45 students supported by 45 financial sponsors and mentors. Over the past 31 years, SSP’s uniquely integrated program has provided over 7,000 low-income students with a quality private high school education. 

Today, financial sponsors and mentors support 1,200 SSP students attending 26 partner high schools located in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens.