Bruininks Scholarship Match

Press Release

May 12, 2004

University of Minnesota announces drive to increase scholarship support

What: Historic U of M scholarship drive
When: Friday, May 14
Where: Board of Regents meeting, 600 McNamara Alumni Center, 200 Oak St. SE
Who: Robert Bruininks, president
Wayne Sigler, director of admission
Contact: Amy Phenix, University News Service, (612) 625-8510

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL--University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks has announced the largest effort in university history to raise scholarship support for students. The multiyear drive will increase by 50 percent the number of students receiving scholarships and it includes a matching program to encourage more donors to give to scholarships.

"I want to make sure that all students with the desire and ability to succeed at the University of Minnesota have the opportunity to do so," said Bruininks, who has made scholarships one of the U's top fund-raising priorities. Bruininks will make a formal announcement of the drive at the board of regents meeting, 9 a.m.-noon, Friday, May 14, at the McNamara Alumni Center.

The University of Minnesota Scholarship Drive seeks to increase by 2,250 the number of students who are helped through privately funded scholarships. The goal is to raise $150 million, making it the largest scholarship fundraising effort ever undertaken by the university. Currently, 4,500 students receive scholarships funded through private gifts to the university.

Minnesota trails other Big Ten institutions and private colleges in the number and size of scholarships it can offer to entering freshmen. The University of Minnesota offers merit scholarships to only 14 percent of new freshmen, placing it last among the Big Ten.

"We are losing some of our top students to other states," said Wayne Sigler, director of admissions. But there are other reasons for increasing scholarship support. It allows students to focus on their studies and to graduate on time. A recent university report shows that students with scholarships graduate in four or five years at rates 15 to 35 percent higher than other students.

In-state tuition and fees are projected to be about $7,500 in the fall of 2004; that figure represents a 52-percent increase over the past four years, due to significant reductions in state funding for the university.

A new matching fund, the President's Scholarship Match, has also been created to encourage donors to make endowed scholarship gifts. Through this program, the income from new endowed scholarships will be matched by funds from the university, doubling the impact of donors gifts. When donors create endowed scholarship funds, about 5 percent of the market value is paid out to students as scholarship awards. Under the matching program, the benefit to students will be doubled.

By creating this matching program, our goal is to increase endowed scholarships, said Bruininks. Endowed funds are important because they provide a continuous and growing source of revenue far into the future. With more than half of our students staying in Minnesota after they graduate, the university is a critical source of talent for the state. For the good of Minnesota, we need to make sure that we can continue to attract and keep our talented and motivated students here.

The President s Scholarship Match is open to donors making endowment gifts of at least $25,000. Gifts may be designated for a specific college or campus. Employer matching funds may be used to reach the $25,000 level, which is the minimum for creating an endowment gift at the University, making it possible for donors to stretch their philanthropic dollars even farther. Gifts may be made by individuals or groups of individuals, and may be paid over five years.