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UI campaign announces progress on
Posted December 1, 2004
IOWA CITY -- Private gifts to the University of Iowa's $1 billion Good. Better. Best. Iowa campaign have created 279 new university-wide endowed scholarships for UI undergraduate students since the campaign began in 1999, UI Foundation officials have announced. The campaign seeks to create a total of 350 such new scholarships before the campaign concludes at the end of 2005. The 279 endowed undergraduate scholarships created so far by private gifts during the campaign include 70 Presidential Scholarships, which are awarded competitively to select entering first-year students in the top 5 percent of their high school class and with an ACT composite score of 30 or higher. The university-wide scholarships created as part of the campaign also include Undergraduate Achievement Scholarships, awarded based on academic achievement and financial need; Opportunity at Iowa Scholarships, given to select entering first-year students of African-American, Latino/a or American Indian heritage; Provost Scholarships, which supplement the National Merit Scholarship; Dean's Scholarships, for select runners-up in the Presidential Scholarship competition; Iowa Center for the Arts Scholarships; and Presidential Scholarships for Study Abroad. The campaign's original overall goal for student scholarship support -- both undergraduate and graduate, and across all UI colleges -- was $142 million. When the overall campaign goal was raised to $1 billion last April, $30 million was added to the student scholarship goal, with a renewed emphasis on need-based aid. So far, nearly $130 million in gifts have been received by the UI Foundation toward the $172 million student support goal. About $70 million of the $172 million goal is for university-wide undergraduate scholarships. In addition, several UI colleges have campaign goals for scholarships particular to their enrolled students. A minimum gift commitment of $150,000 is required to endow a Presidential Scholarship, $100,000 to endow an Opportunity at Iowa Scholarship and $30,000 to endow an undergraduate need- or merit-based scholarship. On Oct. 8, 2004, scholarship contributors and UI student recipients of privately funded scholarships gathered at the Levitt Center for University Advancement on the UI campus. Speaking at the recognition event on behalf of contributors were Larry and Jeanette Waters of Iowa City; both are graduates of the UI. The couple created a scholarship for UI-bound students from the southwest Iowa town of Corning, Larry Waters' hometown. "Corning is pretty isolated, but it's hard to imagine a community that's worked harder to succeed," Larry Waters said. "We thought it would be beneficial to have students with such a positive attitude at the UI -- and create an opportunity for kids who might not otherwise come here. "We believe we have three things we can share: our time, our talent and our treasure. We've given of our time and talent through our work with community organizations. We also wanted to give of our treasure." Speaking on behalf of scholarship recipients was Lisa Quiroz, a UI junior marketing major from Corpus Christi, Texas, who received an Opportunity at Iowa Scholarship created by UI graduate Kevin Gruneich of Stamford, Conn. "Scholarships help bring students to the University of Iowa from across the state and from all around the country, and they help students succeed here," Quiroz said. "Since I'm a business major, maybe the best way to say this is that scholarships provide a really good 'return on investment' for the contributors, for the university, and for the entire state." The UI's Good. Better. Best. Iowa campaign is being conducted under the guidance of the UI Foundation. The seven-year effort (beginning of 1999 through end of 2005) is raising private funds to help launch a variety of initiatives across the university, substantially increase the number of UI scholarships and endowed faculty positions, support new educational and research facilities, build the UI's endowment and fund outreach and service programs to benefit Iowans. The total of gifts and gift commitments so far to the $1 billion campaign now exceeds $822 million. The UI acknowledges the UI Foundation as the preferred channel for private contributions that benefit all areas of the university. For more information about the UI Foundation, visit www.uiowafoundation.org. To learn more about the UI's Good. Better. Best. Iowa campaign, visit its web site at www.GoodBetterBestIowa.org. Contact Information
Cassidy Titcomb Additional information about supporting UI student scholarships also is available on this site. |