The Arch with the Holmes-Hunter Academic Building in the background as the sun peeks through the overhanging trees.

February 28, 2017
by Jere W. Morehead, President

The University of Georgia has launched an exciting new initiative—called the Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program—to grow dramatically the number of need-based scholarships awarded each year to students from low-income backgrounds.

Through this program, the UGA Foundation will match—dollar for dollar—any gift in the amount of $50,000, $75,000, or $100,000 to establish an endowed need-based scholarship. A donation of $100,000, for example, will transform into an endowment of $200,000, which will provide a significant grant, every year, to support a deserving student with unmet financial need.

The Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program has the potential to create as many as 400 to 600 new need-based scholarships—a giant step toward eliminating the financial obstacles facing many of our students. We already have received commitments to establish more than 50 of these new scholarships since the program was unveiled just a month ago. We are confident this initiative will inspire our alumni and friends to new levels of support for need-based aid for our students.

By uniting around the Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program, the Bulldog family will create a permanent legacy of support that provides for our students pathways to futures that would otherwise be unreachable. This is an opportunity we simply cannot afford to miss.