Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation Makes $3.2 Million Gift For Chancellor's Scholarships

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. --- The Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation of Bentonville has made a $3.2 million commitment over four years to fund Chancellor’s Scholarships at the University of Arkansas.

The gift will enable the University to compete more effectively for the best high school students in Arkansas and across the nation. The intent is to attract these gifted students to the University of Arkansas in hopes that they will make their lives in Arkansas after graduation and profoundly impact the state’s workforce and culture.

"This is a deeply appreciated vote of confidence from the Walton Family in the vision we have set forth for the University as a nationally competitive, student-centered research university serving Arkansas and world," said Chancellor John A. White. "Central to that vision is increasing the size and quality of our student body, and this gift will have a tremendous impact on our ability to do precisely that.

"We are extremely grateful to the Walton Family for their generosity. This is as much a gift to the state as it is to the University of Arkansas," White added.

Chancellor’s Scholarships assist highly talented students in covering the cost of attending the University of Arkansas. Some Chancellor’s Scholarships are used in combination with other scholarships, but others can provide up to $8,000 per year to cover tuition, fees, and room and board in a UA residence hall.

To qualify for consideration, applicants must have demonstrated academic excellence within their coursework while achieving very high scores on standardized tests such as the ACT or the SAT. The entering class of Chancellor’s Scholars in the 1999-2000 academic year had an average grade point average of 3.92 on a 4.00 scale and an average ACT score of 30 (the highest score is 36; the national average is 21). Factors such as community service, extracurricular activities and leadership skills are considered as well.

In 1998, the University attracted 492 Chancellor’s Scholars, a twelve-fold increase over the previous year. Because of the financial pressures this overnight success presented, the University reduced the number of Chancellor’s Scholarships in 1999 to 311. More than 200 qualified students were not offered these scholarships because of the lack of resources.

"What we’re trying to do right now is stabilize this wildly successful program, so that it does not cause undue financial hardship for the University," said Arlene Cash, dean of enrollment services.

"The University’s plan for the immediate future is to award 1,000 Chancellor’s Scholarships annually—250 in each class," she added. "The complication to this goal is that the numbers of Chancellor’s Scholars in the entering classes of 1998 and 1999 were much higher than the 250 level. In fact, between our freshman and sophomore classes alone, we have more than 800 Chancellor’s Scholars."

As a result, the University had planned to award about 150 Chancellor’s Scholarships to next fall’s freshman class. Most of these would be sustained by institutional funds, with the rest being supported by private gifts.

But the Walton gift will fund about 100 Chancellor’s Scholars annually over the next four years, Cash said.

"This gift arrives at the best possible time, as we are now making Chancellor’s Scholarship awards for the coming academic year," Cash said. "The Walton Family’s generosity allows us to offer 250 instead of 150, and will enable us to offer at least 250 per year over the following three years."

White said that, through private gift support, the University hopes to increase eventually the number of Chancellor’s Scholarships well beyond 250 per year. For the immediate future, however, the goal is to stabilize the program at 250 scholarships per year, using privately funded scholarships to reduce the pressure on institutional funds (composed of state appropriation and tuition revenue) that support Chancellor’s Scholarships.

Already, the number of privately funded Chancellor’s Scholarships is increasing, from one in 1998 to 13 in 1999 to 25 projected for fall 2000.

According to G. David Gearhart, vice chancellor of University advancement, the University currently has about $1.75 million in endowed funds, which would pay out about $88,000 next year to fund approximately 11 scholarships.

In addition, Gearhart said there are approximately 14 Chancellor’s Scholarships that will be funded annually, through non-endowed fund.

The long-term future for privately supported Chancellor’s Scholarships is much rosier, he said. Currently, six benefactors have committed nearly $6.7 million to the Chancellor’s Scholarship program through planned gifts. These gifts will not revert to the University until the benefactors and any assigned heirs die, but the principal in these funds will continue to accumulate annually until that time.

"We are working very hard to raise private gifts for Chancellor’s Scholarships and are making steady progress," Gearhart said. "We will continue to seek gift commitments, whether these be planned gifts, endowed gifts to be made immediately, or gifts funded annually. We are optimistic about continued progress."

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