More than 1,000 freshmen throughout the University of Wisconsin System and the Wisconsin Technical College System will receive scholarship grants this November to help pay for school expenses from the Fund for Wisconsin Scholars.
In December 2007, John and Tashia Morgridge donated $175 million to the Fund for Wisconsin Scholars to aid low-income Wisconsin residents. The fund will not diminish overtime because none of the original donation will be spent — only the income off investments will be used, said Susan Fischer, UW-Madison director of financial aid.
According to Morna Foy, spokesperson for WTCS, $5.5 million will be distributed among 1,200 students for the 2008-09 school year in Wisconsin public higher education institutions.
Six hundred students at four-year UW campuses will receive $3,500, while 600 students at two-year UW campuses and WTCS schools will receive $1,800.
“One of the things we try to bring to the forefront is the need for the state to live up to its obligation to students, but also the opportunity for private donors to invest in need-based aid,” said David Giroux, UW System spokesperson.
The scholarships will be granted to freshmen for the 2008-09 academic year. Sophomores, juniors and seniors will receive stipends for the next three years, said Mary Gulbrandsen, executive director for the Fund for Wisconsin Scholars. The reason the scholarships are being awarded after the beginning of the semester is because it is the first year they are being given, thus slowing the administrative processes.
“Financial aid is complex. Giving away money and giving it away well is hard work. You have to find out who your target is,” Fischer said. “If you have this much money, you have to make sure it is done right.”
Giroux said the more investments, both in public and private need-based aid, the better, because higher education must be kept affordable.
“There will never be enough financial aid available. There always has to be decisions made of who does or does not receive aid,” Giroux added. “There will always be students who don’t get as much aid as they think they need.”
According to Gulbrandsen, students must be Wisconsin residents, have graduated from a Wisconsin public high school within the last three years, be attending a UW System school or a WTCS school full-time, have received a Pell grant and be working on their first undergraduate degree to receive the scholarship.
Foy said seeing people like John and Tashia Morgridge donating so generously to the higher educational institutions over the years is a tremendous act on their part.
“For those students who get [the scholarship], it is just a tremendous gift. They are putting their money where their mouth is. They are doing something proactive, and they are helping students who are really struggling financially,” Foy said. “Will it completely remove [the struggle to pay for school]? No. But, it goes a long way.”
