Alumnus creates $1M scholarship to support students with disabilities

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State alumnus Dale Hollinger has committed to the creation of a scholarship that will provide support for undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities. Through an estate gift of $1 million, the Dale and Rosalie Hollinger Scholarship for Students with Disabilities will help students offset the cost of tuition, in addition to providing funding for costs associated with their disabilities.

“I am incredibly proud to support students with disabilities at Penn State,” said Hollinger. “I benefited greatly as a student by receiving a scholarship because of my own disability, and I am thrilled to be able to help students like me pursue their dreams of receiving a Penn State degree.”

Each semester, over 2,000 students register through the Office of Student Disability Resources at Penn State, and for many students with disabilities, the financial burden associated with their degree can include classroom accommodations that result in out-of-pocket expenses, additional transportation costs to and from campus, and higher and more frequent medical bills than the average student.

“I am extremely grateful to Mr. Hollinger for his inspiring generosity and continued support for students with disabilities at Penn State,” said Marcus Whitehurst, vice provost for educational equity. “His commitment is at the heart of fulfilling our land-grant mission of accessibility and affordability for students from all walks of life, students who make our University community a stronger, more vibrant place to learn and grow.”

As the largest gift ever received by the Office of Student Disability Resources, the bequest creating the Dale and Rosalie Hollinger Scholarship for Students with Disabilities will have a significant impact on student recipients. Hollinger has chosen to activate the scholarship in his lifetime with an outright gift that has secured a 1:1 match from the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation, for a total of $120,000 in additional endowed support. Dedicated to helping students in their pursuit of higher education since 1979, the Newcombe Foundation offers scholarship funding through partnerships with selected academic institutions.

This gift will deepen Hollinger’s longstanding connection to Penn State. In addition to the Dale and Rosalie Hollinger Scholarship for Students with Disabilities, Hollinger also has established the Dale W. Hollinger – Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation Scholarship at Penn State, supporting students with disabilities with a match leveraged from the Newcombe Foundation. Hollinger graduated in 1963 from the Smeal College of Business with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, spending his career in the energy industry.

Gifts from Penn State's alumni and friends have been essential to the success of the University's historic land-grant mission to serve the public good. To fulfill that mission for a new era of rapid change and global connections, the University’s current campaign "A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence," focuses on the three key imperatives of a public university: keeping the doors to higher education open to hard-working students regardless of financial well-being; creating transformative experiences that go beyond the classroom; and impacting the world by fueling discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. To learn more, visit greaterpennstate.psu.edu.