Office of Advancement
(315) 792-3219
Establishing a Scholarship
Scholarship assistance helps students achieve their dreams by bridging the gap between their own resources and the cost of tuition.
Background
Utica University is among only a handful of colleges and universities, indeed the first in New York State, to take a provocative stand against the uncontrollable rise in the cost of a private university education. In 2016, we took the dramatic step in the cause of affordability by reducing our tuition by 42%. The University’s commitment to access and affordability is consistent with our founding, and is essential to our core mission. Reduction in tuition alone is not sufficient to ensure that all qualified university-bound students will be able to meet the costs of attending Utica University.
Our ability to provide significant financial aid, whether through annual contributions, institutional funds, or the income from endowment, continues to be an imperative.
Rationale
In the 2018-19 academic year, the University provided more than $13.6 million in institutional financial aid, including nearly $1 million in income produced from the endowed funds earmarked for scholarships by their donors.
The case for dramatically increasing the corpus of endowed funds for scholarships is essential for sustaining our commitment to access and affordability. For example, in the 2018-2019 academic year, we enrolled a total of 2,637 students. Of those, 233 (8.39%) were low income, defined as family income below 150% of the federally-designated poverty level; 443 (16.67%) were first generation university students; and 282 (10.61%) were first generation AND low income.
Utica students received federal and institutional scholarships and grants valued at approximately 47% of the cost of tuition and fees ($10,129 of $21,382).
To further demonstrate the need our deserving students bring to bear as they enroll at Utica University, currently we have 257 out of 1,900 students accepted with a $0 Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) or 14% at this mid-point in the admission cycle. There are an additional 205 who have an EFC of $1-$5576. Those 2 groups are nearly 25% of the accepted pool.
Impact
Donors will continue to have a critical impact on the University’s ability to meet this significant demand. Individuals wishing to play an important role can consider establishing an endowed fund in honor or in memory of a family member or friend with a gift of $50,000 – payable over as many as five years. As the scholarship is being funded, the University will begin to award a student(s) at the mid-point of $25,000 so that the donor(s) can begin to see the immediate benefit to one or more of our deserving students.
Additional gifts over time, plus investment growth, ensure that the fund will continue to grow and produce a meaningful annual distribution for deserving students. The University takes its covenant with donors seriously, and enters into an “Agreement of Gift,” which governs the use of those funds as originally intended by the donor(s).
Each of these specific endowed funds participate in the total return of the University’s endowment and, collectively, represent nearly 72% of all endowed funds since the University’s founding in 1946.
For more information, and to consider your options for establishing an endowed scholarship at Utica University, please contact Amy Lindner, Interim Vice President for Advancement at (315) 792-3053 or by e-mail at aklindne@utica.edu
Learn More about Endowed Scholarships at Utica University
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