Bicentennial Scholars

SIF73, SIF157, SIF172, SIF184, and SIF189 Bicentennial Scholars

Cavalier Corner UVA-WISE Scholarsips 

Project Manager: Mark Luellen

Bicentennial Scholars Fund

The purpose of this project is to build an endowment for student scholarships at UVA and UVA-Wise.

Approved: December 2016 (first award of $100M), August 2018 (second award of $100M), December 2020 (third award of $30M), September 2021 (fourth award of $50M), January 2023 (fifth award of $35M), April 2023 (award reduced $4M, reallocated to Bicentennial Professors award).

Project Start Date: 12/21/2016

Total Funding: $311,000,000

Current Status: Active

Impact:

The Bicentennial Scholars Program will match philanthropic commitments designated for new endowed need- and merit-based scholarships for undergraduate students.

Executive Summary

The Bicentennial Scholars Fund makes a bold statement to the Commonwealth and the nation that UVA is committed to affordability, and that access and excellence need not be mutually exclusive. With an investment of up to $200 million over five years, the Bicentennial Scholars Program will match philanthropic commitments designated for new endowed need- and merit-based scholarships for undergraduate students. This investment will continue the University’s tradition of affordability and access for qualified students from all walks of life.

Progress:
  • Bicentennial Scholars Fund Initiative created in December 2016 with $100 million in matching funds allocated. The signature program increases access and affordability for undergraduate students with financial need, and for merit-based scholarships.
  • First matching allocation completed by June 2018.
  • Additional $100 million in matching funds allocated in August 2018, and another $30 million allocated in December 2019.
  • University Achievement Awards and Blue Ridge Scholarships introduced in December 2020 as new scholarship matching opportunities. Both programs share goals of fostering excellence and diversity within the undergrdaute student body and encourage the success of their scholars.
  • Additional $50 million in matching funds allocated in September 2021 when the scholarship matching pool reached a point of having less than $10 million in matching funds remaining due to the enthusiasm of donors, another $31 million in matching funds allocated in January 2023.
  • To date, aliumni, parent and friends of the University have committed approximately $366 million (in signed and verbal commitments) and have leveraged approximately $259 million in matching funds for a total impact of nearly $625 million in endowed need-based and merit scholarships across the institution.
  • Total scholarship fund endowments established with funds pledged: 614

UVA Invests Additional $65 Million in Bicentennial Funds for Scholarships, Professorships

March 3, 2023
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan on Friday announced an additional contribution of $65 million to the pools of matching funds for two key programs that benefit both students and faculty at UVA.

The Bicentennial Scholars and Bicentennial Professors funds, initiated in 2017 around the bicentennial of the University’s founding, have been one of the most impactful initiatives of the Honor the Future campaign. This combination of philanthropy matched by the University’s Strategic Investment Fund has energized private philanthropy around key strategic initiatives of the University and created more than $588 million for permanently endowed scholarships, as well as more than $468 million for endowed professorships.  Read more...

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