DUBOIS – With a $70,000 gift, the DuBois Educational Foundation (DEF) has established the DuBois Educational Foundation Open Doors Scholarship at Penn State DuBois.
As part of the recently concluded Open Doors Scholarship Program, Penn State has made a 2:1 matching contribution to the DEF gift, creating a $210,000 endowment.
Studies have found that only 50 percent of students from low-income households graduate in six years.
The Open Doors Scholarship Program is aimed at addressing such issues by funding scholarships for students enrolled in programs that will address the financial, academic and personal challenges students face in graduating from Penn State.
To date, the Open Doors Scholarship Program—between donor contributions and University matching funds—has generated more than $3 million for student scholarship endowments at Penn State DuBois.
The DEF is the advisory board for Penn State DuBois and is made up of business and community leaders who are invested in offering the best in higher education to individuals in central Pennsylvania.
Established in 1944, the DEF has been instrumental in funding the construction of three campus buildings: the Patrick Swift Building, the Mary Smeal Building and the DEF Workforce Development Building.
The DuBois Educational Foundation Open Doors Scholarship will help to advance “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” a focused campaign that seeks to elevate Penn State’s position as a leading public university in a world defined by rapid change and global connections.
With the support of alumni and friends, “A Greater Penn State” seeks to fulfill the three key imperatives of a twenty-first-century public university: keeping the doors to higher education open to hardworking students regardless of financial well-being; creating transformative experiences that go beyond the classroom; and impacting the world by fueling discovery, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
To learn more about “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” visit http://greaterpennstate.psu.edu/.
For more information on the Open Doors Scholarship Program, and all giving at Penn State DuBois, contact Director of Development Jean Wolf, at 814-372-3038 or jaw57@psu.edu. Or visit http://dubois.psu.edu/open-doors-scholarship-program.
