Oct. 4, 2004
University of Minnesota raises $34 million
for scholarships in first year of drive
News Release
Monday, October 4
For more information, contact:
Martha Douglas, University of Minnesota Foundation, (612)
626-9712
David Ruth, University News Service, (612) 626-1720
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL -- The University of Minnesota announced
today that it has raised $34 million from more than 15,000
alumni and friends during the first year of the University
of Minnesota Scholarship Drive launched last year.
The goal of the drive is to increase by 50 percent the number
of students receiving scholarships funded through private
gifts. This goal can be accomplished over several years by
raising $150 million in new scholarship gifts, making this
the university’s largest fund-raising drive for scholarships.
The $34 million raised last year counts toward this goal and
benefits every university college and campus.
To raise awareness of the need for scholarships, U President
Robert Bruininks declared October as Scholarship Month across
the University. “It’s a key time of year, when
many of our colleges and campuses host scholarship events
for their donors, when alumni return for homecoming and when
people begin to think about their year-end giving,”
he said.
To encourage donors to make endowed scholarship gifts, the
University created a new matching fund, called the President’s
Scholarship Match. Through this program, the income from new
endowed scholarships will be matched by funds from the university,
doubling the impact of donors’ gifts. The matching program
is open to donors making endowment gifts of at least $25,000.
In the first year of the drive, $17 million, or half of all
new scholarship gifts, qualified for the matching program.
The number of donors making scholarship gifts has more than
doubled in the last five years, from 7,200 in FY2000 to 15,452
in FY2004. Nevertheless, Minnesota trails other Big Ten institutions
and private colleges in the number and size of scholarships
it can offer to incoming freshmen. The University of Minnesota
offers merit scholarships to only 14 percent of entering freshmen,
placing it last among the Big Ten.
“With nearly three quarters of our students staying
in Minnesota after they graduate, the university is a critical
source of talent for the state,” said Bruininks. “For
the good of Minnesota, we need to make sure that we can continue
to attract and keep our talented and motivated students here.”
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