The School of Engineering and Applied Science is seeking out new donors to fund scholarships in the hopes that increased financial aid packages will entice students to enroll.
As the University expands science and technology programs with projects like the Science and Engineering Hall, financial support for students has increasingly become a focus of fundraising energy.
“SEAS is growing, both in size and stature, and the ability to offer more scholarships is simply a necessary element of this growth,” Dean David Dolling said. “We reach out to alumni, foundations, corporations, and friends and supporters of SEAS to make them aware of the growing strength of the school.”
Alumni continue to be the highest contributors to financial aid across the University, especially within the engineering school, David Garofalo, senior communications director for the Office of Development and Alumni Relations said. He said $18 million was donated to the Power and Promise Fund – a University-wide student financial aid initiative – in fiscal year 2011, a 23 percent increase from the year before.
University spokeswoman Jill Sankey declined to say how many alumni donate to the engineering school and how much of the Power and Promise Fund’s financial aid pool has been set aside for students in the school.
“It is important to increase resources for financial aid, through the GW Power and Promise Fund, to ensure that qualified students, regardless of their financial resources, can take full advantage of a GW education,” Garofalo said. “We want our donors to give their dollars to the scholarship of their choice – whether that is to the University’s general financial aid, or designated to a particular school.”
New financial aid options could be available for incoming SEAS students as early as next academic year, with the process of awarding scholarships and fellowships beginning in March.
“Everything at universities takes time,” Dolling said. “Even at GW, if you look a month at a time, you can’t see a change. If you look a semester at a time, you can see serious changes, and if you look a year at a time, you can see major changes.”
