Endowed Scholarships

Why do donors establish endowed scholarships?
Friends and alumni of the University make gifts to establish named permanent scholarship funds:

• to honor their loved ones
• to recognize what the University has meant to them and to give back
• to show appreciation to favorite professors
• to support programs of special interest to them
• to just help students at CNU

What is the impact of endowed scholarships on CNU?
Endowment gifts strengthen the University's permanent financial base, funding student aid through merit and need-based scholarships.

How are endowed funds invested and scholarships calculated?
Endowed funds are not disbursed. The CNU Educational Foundation invests the funds and disburses the fund's earnings as scholarship awards. The Foundation's policy is to invest endowed funds, disbursing 5 percent of the endowed fund's market value each year and re-investing excess earnings to provide a hedge against inflation in future years.

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How can I determine the level of my scholarship?
The minimum level to establish a named endowed fund at CNU is $25,000. The following table illustrates the initial gift required to fund scholarships at various levels, based on full in-state tuition and fees (new window), including room and board.

Do I have options in making my gift?
Many donors choose to give an outright, one-time gift to establish an endowed fund while others make a multi-year pledge until the minimum endowed level of $25,000 is attained, at which point disbursements can be initiated from the fund. Others make gifts of stock or include a bequest in a will or trust to initiate a scholarship at their death.

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Can I build endowment and start my annual scholarship award now?
Yes. Some donors wish to have scholarship awards begin right away although the minimum endowed level has not been reached.

For example, a recent donor wished to establish an endowed fund of $25,000. He pledged $30,000 over a five-year period, committing to a gift of $6,000 each year. He instructed that $1,000 each year be given as a scholarship award and that $5,000 be set aside in a fund to build his endowment. At the end of five years, he will attain his goal of a $25,000 endowed fund, and five students will already have benefited from an annual award of $1,000. His endowed fund of $25,000 will then be expected to produce an award of $1,250 each year in perpetuity.
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