Four foundations recently awarded Penn State Abington a total of $104,500 to support student scholarships and the LionShare food pantry.
"We are grateful that these four foundations chose to support Penn State Abington students. These grants lighten the financial obligations of attending college and allow students to focus on their education and their promising futures," Interim Chancellor Andrew August said.
The W.W. Smith Charitable Trust, building on a history of funding to Penn State that dates to 1984, provided a grant in the amount of $52,000 for scholarships in the 2020-21 academic year. This is the trust’s third scholarship grant to the Abington campus.
Scholarships will be awarded in amounts between $2,000 and $10,000 to qualified full-time Penn State Abington students with demonstrated financial need who are residents of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia counties or Camden, New Jersey. Scholarship funds may be used to cover tuition, room, board and books.
The W. W. Smith Charitable Trust is a private foundation established by William Wikoff Smith in 1977. The trust makes grants in the greater Philadelphia region to support basic needs, college scholarships, maritime heritage preservation, and medical research primarily in heart disease, cancer and AIDS.
The Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation awarded a grant of $35,000 to Penn State Abington as part of the Newcombe Scholarships for Mature Students program. This grant builds on a history of funding to Penn State dating to 1982 and brings the total awarded to the Abington campus to $95,000 since 2018.
Penn State Abington will match the funds 1:1 for a total impact of $70,000 in scholarships for mature students during the 2020-21 academic year. The goal is to support some of Penn State Abington’s most financially vulnerable learners. Often without family members able to assist, many adult students work to support themselves and their children; commute from Philadelphia to the Abington campus; and struggle to balance the demands of family, school, and employment.
The Newcombe Foundation, an independent foundation based in Princeton, New Jersey, was founded in 1979. It continues the lifelong interest of Charlotte W. Newcombe in supporting students pursuing degrees.