Last modified: Monday, October 29, 2007
IU's "Matching the Promise" success supporting students, major building projects
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 29, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University and its fundraising partner, the IU Foundation, announced today (Oct. 29) that they have raised $652 million toward the goal of $1 billion for IU Bloomington's "Matching the Promise" campaign.
The campaign's success has already enabled the university to significantly reduce the cost of attendance at IU Bloomington for in-state students from low- and moderate-income families. The seven-year campaign began in July 2003, and will continue through June 2010.
IU President Michael A. McRobbie said that this fall, IU Bloomington enrolled about 1,000 new Hoosier students from families with incomes below $50,000, and their average out-of-pocket cost for tuition, room and board was only $341. Scholarships and grants cover the remainder of the $14,512 cost.
The campus also enrolled more than 1,500 new Hoosier students from families with incomes between $50,000 and $100,000. Support provided by these endowments over the past three years has reduced this group's average out-of-pocket cost by 20 percent, to $8,291 for tuition, room and board.
"By virtue of this enormously successful campaign, we have effectively made an Indiana University Bloomington education more affordable and accessible," said McRobbie. "At a time when rising tuition costs across the nation are preventing many students from pursuing an advanced education, or making it increasingly difficult to do so, we are opening our doors to students from low- and moderate-income families all across the state of Indiana."
The campaign is titled "Matching the Promise" because it is designed to give donors a chance to double the effective value of their gifts.
For example, a $50,000 gift generates 5 percent a year, or $2,500, to be applied to scholarships. The Bloomington campus matches that with another $2,500, so the gift effectively produces a $5,000 scholarship every year in perpetuity.
"This concept is proving enormously popular among donors who are looking for ways to ensure they get maximum benefit from their gifts over a long period of time," said IU Foundation President Curt Simic.
He noted that during the first four years of the campaign the Foundation has received $216 million in gifts and commitments for scholarships and graduate-level fellowships.
"Now that we are going public with the campaign and many more potential donors learn of this matching program, I am confident that we will fully meet our ambitious goal for this campaign," Simic said.
To qualify for a match, a contribution must be at least $50,000 for undergraduate scholarships or $150,000 for graduate-level fellowships.
McRobbie said scholarships from these endowments are combined with other grant programs to enable the Bloomington campus to meet the financial need for all students from low- and moderate-income families. As the Matching the Promise endowment grows, IU Bloomington will continue to become more affordable to Hoosier high school students.
"This campaign puts the focus for Indiana's most promising high school students back where it should be -- on doing well in school -- instead of on how they are going to pay for their college education," McRobbie said. "We are extremely grateful to those alumni and friends of the university, whose generous support is ensuring that the state's best young minds stay in Indiana and have access to the full range of learning and cultural opportunities our university affords."
Nationwide, average tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose 6.6 percent this year, forcing students into greater levels of borrowing than ever before. A major objective of the Matching the Promise program is to give students a chance to earn a degree from IU Bloomington and leave campus with no or minimal debt.
"Now, more and more talented students from low- and middle-class families who do not qualify for purely need-based programs have an opportunity to realize their dreams at IU Bloomington," Simic said. "This is a campaign about investing in people and ensuring that future generations of Hoosier scholars are able to reach their full academic potential."
IU Bloomington sophomore Dominique McGee earned an Undergraduate Research Scholarship, a program made possible through the Matching the Promise campaign. She said, "My scholarship made all the difference in my coming to Indiana University. IU gave me such an exciting opportunity to work with my mentor [IU law professor Kevin Brown], I had to take it."
Additionally, several major building projects have benefited from Matching the Promise, such as Bloomington's new multidisciplinary science building, Simon Hall, which was named for members of the Simon family in recognition of a $9 million gift. Ground was broken last month in Bloomington on a second multidisciplinary science building, MSB II, which is also receiving support from the income matching program.
The campaign is also providing funding for the Memorial Stadium north end zone project and the new basketball practice facility adjacent to Assembly Hall.
To speak with President McRobbie or IU Foundation President Curt Simic, please contact Larry MacIntyre, University Communications, at 812-856-1172 or lmacinty@indiana.edu, or Ryan Piurek, University Communications, at 812-855-5393 or rpiurek@indiana.edu.
Note: Larger versions of the charts above can be found respectively at https://newsinfo.iu.edu/pub/libs/images/usr/3922_h.jpg and https://newsinfo.iu.edu/pub/libs/images/usr/3923_h.jpg.
