Binghamton University announces $37.5 million in new endowed scholarships

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Thanks to a generous anonymous family, 25 incoming undergraduate students will receive scholarships per class year until the program reaches a steady state of 100 scholarships awarded per year.

Currently, Binghamton University students are, on average, at the 94th percentile of SAT scores with an average GPA of 3.7. Admitted Binghamton students often have the academic credentials to gain admission to other top-tier schools. However, two-thirds of Binghamton students cannot enroll without financial assistance. Many top-tier private and public universities have access to both larger budgets for financial aid and greater philanthropic support for scholarships.

University President Harvey Stenger noted: “These scholarships will be awarded to students who have proven in their high school careers that they show promise for academic and personal success and will be assets to the campus.”

The scholarships will be divided into two groups:

• Twenty incoming first-year students will receive a scholarship of $10,000 per year for up to four years, so long as the scholarship recipient maintains a minimal GPA threshold.
• Five incoming first-year students will receive a scholarship up to the in-state resident full cost of attendance (approximately $30,000) per year for up to four years, so long as the scholarship recipient also maintains a minimal GPA threshold.

The anonymous family has also endowed a scholarship program for Graduate Students of the Arts (GSA) pursuing a Master of Fine Arts. The GSA scholarships will cover full tuition for 15 incoming graduate students with exceptional skills in the performing, writing and visual arts until the program reaches a steady state of 30 scholarships awarded per year.

The scholarship programs announced Jan. 24 are part of Binghamton’s concerted effort to attract elite students. “Investing in these scholarships equates to investing in students,” Stenger said. “Continuing our tradition of attracting the best students will keep our academic reputation strong and further enhance the value of a Binghamton degree.”

Robust scholarship and financial aid packages allow Binghamton to broaden access while keeping the same level of excellence, ensuring the diversity of the student body and strengthening the hard-won position as a great public university.

A committee comprised of representatives from the Admissions Office; Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Faculty Senate; Division of Student Affairs; and Office of Financial Aid will select the undergraduate scholarship recipients. If a scholarship recipient does not qualify for scholarship funds in a subsequent year due to missing the minimum GPA threshold, a new student in the same class year will be chosen by the committee to receive such scholarship funds.

Similarly, the faculty of the new School of the Arts at Binghamton will select GSA scholarship recipients. The GSA scholarship will be awarded for two years unless the student fails to meet the expectations in their educational program, in which case a new student of the same class year will be selected by the faculty to receive such scholarship funds.

 To discover more about how donors can invest in the people and priorities that make Binghamton University a hub of distinction, visit the EXCELERATE website.