Ensuring Scholarship Funds for a Century to Come
As should be clear from the preceding pages, the critical priorities at CAS center on students, the lifeblood of the University, and on the faculty excellence that continues to serve them.
Three of our most demanding challenges—taking advantage of the digital revolution; tackling the global problems that shape human life; and expanding the humanities—are really about what we can do for and with the wonderful students who are at the heart of CAS.
And this leads us to our fourth and most important priority: having the resources that allow us to attract and support diverse students regardless of family income. This we can do best through Boston University’s Century Challenge.
The hard reality is that about half of the outstanding young people who are admitted to BU—a great many of them to CAS—cannot fully pay for their college educations. While our financial aid packages strive to maximize grants and minimize loans, the average undergraduate borrower still graduates from BU with a sizeable debt load. To help minimize such debt, the University established the Century Challenge—and many donors have responded.
Here is how it works: When a donor establishes an endowed scholarship fund with a gift of $100,000 or more, the University will match, dollar-for-dollar, the income distributed from that fund for scholarship purposes for a period of 100 years following the fund’s activation. For a century, therefore, the Century Challenge provides a source of support for incoming undergraduate students, and effectively doubles the good that is done in a donor’s name.
A Partnership Opportunity
CAS welcomes any amount at or exceeding $100,000 for the establishment of a named Century Challenge endowed scholarship fund. These funds will help sustain excellence in the College of Arts & Sciences in perpetuity. Few gifts have greater long-term impact.