The University of Georgia (UGA) has announced a new fundraising initiative aimed at increasing scholarships to attract top students and expand access to higher education. The campaign seeks to support need-based, merit-based, graduate/professional, and experiential learning scholarships within each UGA school or college.
The university has set an initial goal of raising $75 million for this effort. This builds on UGA’s previous growth in need-based scholarships, which now number more than 1,065 endowments. The initiative is intended to help reduce student loan debt and strengthen UGA’s competitive position among public research universities.
“As Georgia’s flagship institution, we have a responsibility to ensure that future generations can experience the remarkable benefits of a UGA education,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “By supporting this transformational scholarship initiative, donors are giving more students access to our unparalleled learning environment. I am incredibly grateful for the continued generosity of our loyal alumni and friends, as well as the ongoing support of the UGA Foundation.”
The UGA Foundation will provide $19 million in matching funds for new scholarships. Howard Young, chair of the UGA Foundation Board of Trustees, said: “The UGA Foundation is thrilled to provide matching funds to support the creation of new scholarships, an investment that strongly reinforces our mission as a land-grant and sea-grant university and will amplify the generosity of every donor.”
UGA remains committed to recruiting and graduating students while working to lower student debt across all income levels. The university has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top 20 public universities for over ten years and is regularly ranked among the best values in public higher education.
Despite state-funded programs such as HOPE and Zell Miller scholarships helping with tuition costs for in-state residents, many students still face financial gaps between tuition coverage and total attendance costs. On average, about 30% of undergraduate students at UGA graduate with approximately $19,000 in student loan debt.
Benjamin C. Ayers, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at UGA stated: “As one of the nation’s most comprehensive public universities, the University of Georgia consistently attracts exceptional students from across the state and nation. This scholarship initiative will ensure that UGA remains a tremendous value while also attracting and rewarding students who demonstrate academic excellence.”
More information about scholarship opportunities at UGA can be found at https://give.uga.edu/removing-barriers/.
