Administration

SharonSteel creates $1 million Trustee Scholarship at Penn State Shenango

Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

SHARON, Pa. -- The SharonSteel Foundation has committed to give $1 million to Penn State Shenango to create the SharonSteel Foundation Trustee Scholarship. Students with financial need who attend Penn State Shenango will be given first preference to receive the scholarship.

“The SharonSteel Foundation has been a longtime donor and partner with Penn State Shenango, and we are thrilled to see this relationship culminate in one of the largest gifts in our campus history,” said Jo Anne Carrick, campus director at Penn State Shenango. “Nearly 40 percent of Penn State Shenango students come from low-income families, and this scholarship will ensure many of these students will have access to a world-class Penn State education in perpetuity. On behalf of Penn State Shenango and the generations of students who will benefit, we are extremely grateful for this tremendous philanthropy.”

The Trustee Matching Scholarship Program maximizes the impact of private giving while directing funds to students as quickly as possible, meeting the urgent need for scholarship support. For Trustee Scholarships created through the end of For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students on June 30, 2014, Penn State will provide an annual 10 percent match of the total pledge or gift. This level is an increase from the program’s original match of 5 percent, and it is available only for new endowments of $50,000 or more. The University match, which is approximately double the endowment’s annual spendable income, continues in perpetuity, multiplying the support available for students with financial need.

“The SharonSteel Foundation was created to benefit the families of the Shenango Valley, and this scholarship was the best way to carry on the legacy and intent of the first trustees,” said Malvin Sander, trustee of the SharonSteel Foundation. “Education is the path to a better future for everyone in our society, and we hope the SharonSteel Foundation Trustee Scholarship will provide that future for students at Penn State Shenango for years to come.”

The SharonSteel Foundation was created in 1953 by the pioneers of the Sharon Steel Corporation in Shenango Valley, Pennsylvania, to benefit the families in its community. In addition to its recent scholarship commitment, the foundation has given more than $1 million to Penn State Shenango since 1996 primarily to fund annual full-tuition scholarships to students at the campus from Shenango Valley with financial need. They also have supported building renovations, visiting lectures, and College for Kids programs at the campus

The SharonSteel Foundation Trustee Scholarship will help Penn State Shenango reach its goals in For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students, which is directed toward a shared vision of Penn State as the most comprehensive, student-centered research university in America. The University is engaging Penn State’s alumni and friends as partners in achieving six key objectives: ensuring student access and opportunity, enhancing honors education, enriching the student experience, building faculty strength and capacity, fostering discovery and creativity, and sustaining the University’s tradition of quality. The campaign’s top priority is keeping a Penn State degree affordable for students and families. The For the Future campaign has exceeded its goal of securing $2 billion by 2014.

Last Updated June 4, 2014

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