We all know the satisfaction of affordable luxuries. A tall latte to go. Some chilled luscious shrimp artfully arranged atop your salad. A donated bus ticket that gets a poor student to college.

Okay, you weren’t expecting that last one, and it’s more affordable philanthropy than affordable luxury.

But to anyone horrified by the college admissions scandals, worried about the rich-getting-richer trend, and wanting to do something about it that’s within your means, affordable luxuries and affordable philanthropy become the same.

Affordable philanthropy, known as microgrants, is something I ran across while researching a book on what it takes to get low-income students not just into college, but through college. There’s a long list of what it takes to make that happen, but microgrants rise to the top of the list, partly because they are effective and partly because they are a way for people of modest means to make a big difference.

Microgrants cover the little stuff that nobody thinks about but can detour a student forever. Like that $60 bus ticket. Like $300 for books. Like $500 for an emergency visit home.

The microgrant “movement,” if it can be called that, may have its origins at the KIPP schools in Washington, D.C. Today, KIPP D.C. operates two microgrant programs. The Persistence Fund Scholarships, which started five years ago, help with both small and larger expenses, all aimed to keep a student in college. And the newer Match Fund Scholarships help with the extra tuition needed to attend a college with a higher graduation rate.

Read the full article about microgrants in education philanthropy by Richard Whitmire at Forbes.