Open Doors

The support I receive from scholarships allows me to find joy and meaning in my college career. I want to remember my Penn State experience, and I want to make the most of it. This is only possible with the support of our donors. Their generosity has helped me to realize that I can only stand to gain by giving back.”
  • Alex John ’22
  • Penn State Behrend
  • B.S., Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology
  • Merwin Trustee Matching Scholarship & Toniatti Open Doors Scholarship
The support I receive from scholarships allows me to find joy and meaning in my college career. I want to remember my Penn State experience, and I want to make the most of it. This is only possible with the support of our donors. Their generosity has helped me to realize that I can only stand to gain by giving back.”
  • Alex John ’22
  • Penn State Behrend
  • B.S., Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology
  • Merwin Trustee Matching Scholarship & Toniatti Open Doors Scholarship

What Philanthropy Can Do

Thanks to you

With support from alumni and friends, the campaign imperative to Open Doors has been brought to life:

545
 total scholarships created through the Open Doors Scholarship Program to meet the needs of students who face financial, academic, and personal challenges on their path to a degree.

4,052
 first generation college students who benefitted from scholarship support during the campaign.

$24.6M
 total endowed funds, including gifts and the University match, established through the Educational Equity Matching Program to support students who contribute to the diversity of the Penn State community.

The Vision

Access and affordability must be priorities for the entire University community: in our fiscal policies and budget planning, in our guidance of students toward completion, and in our philanthropic investments and partnerships. With the help of our supporters, we can reduce the cost of a Penn State degree, the time that students—especially those from low-income households—take to earn it, and the educational debt that can limit our graduates’ ambitions and achievements. We can also help all our students reach the goal of graduation, and we have the potential to have the highest graduation rate of our peers, despite the fact that we open our doors to a wide variety of students. With more than 16,000 bachelor’s degrees awarded each year and a prominence that makes us a model for other institutions, Penn State can have a vast impact on the economic mobility of our students, the diversity of the American workforce, and the affordability of public higher education nationwide.

Your support is Opening Doors.