Advance Arkansas: New Scholarship Initiative Will Assist Arkansans

David Speer

Advance Arkansas will create campus-wide undergraduate scholarship endowments to benefit academically promising students from Arkansas.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas is introducing a new scholarship initiative, Advance Arkansas, as part of Campaign Arkansas, the university’s ongoing capital campaign. Advance Arkansas will create campus-wide undergraduate scholarship endowments to benefit academically promising students from Arkansas.

The Advance Arkansas scholarships will support new, returning and transfer students from Arkansas who exhibit strong academic ability, impressive leadership skills, some financial need, extraordinary determination and a deep sense of connection to the state and its regions. Recipients will also exhibit a strong desire to attend and graduate from the University of Arkansas. Preference will be given to students who are the first in their families to pursue a four-year baccalaureate degree.

 “It is our hope that these students will make significant contributions to the overall achievement of the state,” said Chancellor Joe Steinmetz, who was a first-generation college student himself. “It is a top priority of ours to ensure that hard-working, academically gifted students graduating from Arkansas high schools have the opportunity to attend the state’s flagship institution.”

“Many of the state’s best students attend other schools because they receive better financial incentives,” said Charles Robinson, vice chancellor for student affairs. “Advance Arkansas will serve to help us attract more of these Arkansans by making the university more financially accessible. These students will contribute very positively to the strong academic and community-focused culture of our campus.”

The minimum endowment required for Advance Arkansas scholarships is $50,000. The scholarships will be “portable,” meaning they will follow their student recipients regardless of changes in major, as long as other renewal criteria are maintained.

The university is setting aside $2.5 million to match the earnings in the spending accounts generated by the scholarship endowments to double the impact. Therefore, an endowment generating $2,000 in scholarship spending will be matched with another $2,000 by the university, for a total scholarship award of $4,000. The amount of the scholarships awarded will range from $4,000 to full tuition awards.

Chancellor Steinmetz and his wife will show their support of Advance Arkansas by making another $50,000 gift, bringing the total amount they have provided to support scholarships for Advance Arkansas to $100,000.

During All in for Arkansas, the university’s second annual giving day on March 29-30, donors will have the unique opportunity to contribute any amount to the Advance Arkansas scholarship program.

“I hope this demonstrates how passionate Sandy and I are about this initiative,” Steinmetz said. “We encourage others to join us by contributing to the scholarship during All in for Arkansas as well.”

All in for Arkansas will begin on March 29 and run for 1,871 minutes, in honor of the university’s founding year of 1871. The event coincides with the university’s 146th birthday and, this year, will be the unofficial kick-off of fundraising for the Advance Arkansas scholarship initiative.

About Campaign Arkansas: Campaign Arkansas is the ongoing capital campaign for the University of Arkansas to raise private gift support for the university’s academic mission and other key priorities. The campaign’s goal is to raise $1 billion to support academic and need-based scholarships, technology enhancements, new and renovated facilities, undergraduate, graduate and faculty research, study abroad opportunities and other innovative programs. The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in a wide spectrum of disciplines as it works to fulfill its public land-grant mission to serve Arkansas and beyond as a partner, resource and catalyst.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.