As the campus community sets their resolutions for 2025, many are setting goals for the year ahead. If you’re resolved to make a difference in 2025, supporting the U of A’s graduate and international students is a meaningful way to start.

The Graduate School and International Education at the U of A has extended its FundRazor crowd-funding campaign to Jan. 31 to raise money for two funds supporting students: the Needy Family Graduate Student Emergency Support Fund and the International Student Catastrophic Fund.

The two funds provide one-time support to graduate and international students facing unexpected emergencies or crises that could cause them to withdraw from school. Types of emergencies include unexpected medical expenses, technological needs such as broken laptops, transportation needs and unexpected deaths in the family.

"Many of our graduate and international students are living on tight budgets, and emergencies can easily derail their academic studies," said Ed Pohl, dean of the Graduate School and International Education. "These two funds provide critical resources to our students so they can stay enrolled and earn degrees that will change their lives."

Any donation amount is welcomed, and donors can give to one or both funds.

GSIE receives more than 125 requests for student emergency funds each year, but funds are limited. Students on average request $500 for assistance; however, grant amounts are based on funds available and currently average $250. Gifts are tax-deductible and are immediately available for a student in need once the donation is completed.

In 2017, Kim Needy, then-dean of the GSIE, established the Needy Family Graduate Student Emergency Support Fund in 2017 after seeing first-hand the needs of graduate students. The International Student Catastrophic Fund was created in 2017 through a major gift from a university benefactor after emergency support for graduate and international students was identified as a key funding priority for GSIE during Campaign Arkansas. In 2022, the fund won the Heiskell Award for Innovation in International Education from the Institute of International Education.