Alumni scholarships hit seven-figure mark
BY TARA LAKE and MARK DAVIS
UCLA Today
Alumni Association scholarships for this school year topped the
$1 million mark for the first time in the nearly 70-year history
of the awards. The association distributed $1.03 million in scholarships
for 2003-04.
“Awarding $1 million is a great milestone,” said Keith
Brant, executive director of the Alumni Association. “It demonstrates
the level of commitment our alumni have to this university and its
students.”
In light of the state’s continuing budget woes, Alumni Association
scholarships are becoming increasingly important not only to recipients
but also to UCLA’s ability to compete for top students, including
the best graduate students.
Attracting top graduate students is crucial to UCLA, Brant said.
With the gap between tuition and financial aid for graduate students
growing wider, the association’s board of directors decided
last month to expand the Alumni Scholarship program to include awards
to graduate students.
“With the increase in fees at the undergraduate and graduate
levels, our scholarships are going to be more critical in the future
in terms of recruiting,” said Rosalind Scherer, the association’s
director of scholarships.
Currently, the Alumni Association has nine merit scholarship and
grant programs and supports about 800 Alumni Scholars, many of whom
go on to help fund scholarships for incoming freshmen.
Despite the economic climate, the association is determined to
keep fund-raising goals high, Scherer said.
“Association volunteers and staff are certain that alumni
will rise to this new challenge, and there are a million good reasons
for their optimism,” she said.
The scholarship program dates to 1936, when two alumni merit awards
of $150 each were made.
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