Baseline period: Spring–Summer Academic Term (2025)

Prepared: January 2026

Purpose

This appendix documents the minimum verified academic economic impact generated by Voice Up during the Spring–Summer academic term through earned academic credit equivalency. It provides a conservative, auditable baseline of value that has already occurred (not a projection).

What Is Valued (and What Is Not)

Included: documented, academically supervised, credit-eligible work with sufficient verification for external review.

Excluded: participants without sufficient documentation; observational participation; institutional representation without qualifying hours; any estimates, extrapolations, or projected value; and non-credit economic/civic contributions. Voice Up does not award academic credit; all valuations are equivalency proxies for economic estimation only.

Eligibility Criteria

To be included, participants must meet all criteria:

1. ≥90 documented participation hours
2. participation tied to academically supervised work (e.g., internships, independent studies, capstones)
3. documentation sufficient for external review
4. participation occurring within the Spring–Summer term

Cohort Summary

• Total verified participants reviewed: 61
• Participants meeting full eligibility criteria: 13

Non-qualifying participants were intentionally excluded to preserve methodological integrity.

Valuation Method

• Credit equivalency: 90 hours = 3 academic credits (capped at 3 credits per student; no stacking)
• Per-credit valuation: $1,500 per credit (deliberately below-market proxy to avoid inflation)

Verified Calculation

Interpretation Guidance

The $58,500 figure is a conservative lower-bound baseline for one academic term only. It does not include Fall participation, additional credit-bearing students outside the baseline term, or broader non-credit outcomes. The methodology prioritizes defensibility over scale.

Related Documentation (Available Upon Request)

• Full Economic Impact Assessment (Spring–Summer Term)
• Academic supervision correspondence (partner university faculty)
• Letters of institutional support
• Executed MOUs (domestic and international)