College is incredibly expensive, and growing more so every year. While it is still a very good investment, many students are still concerned about the high price tag, and look for funding sources to aid in their education. We’ve written about these before, and today are going to examine a more esoteric and less well known source of scholarship funding: named scholarships.
In this article, we’re going to explain the what and the why of named scholarships, then go through some examples of them. This won’t be an exhaustive list, but will give a solid overview of what’s available. Let’s get started!
How Named Scholarships Work
When people give money to universities, they usually expect some degree of recognition in return. Many universities and colleges are named after prominent early donors, and others name academic buildings and dormitories after the various benefactors who gift the funds to construct them.
These donors do receive an advantage in admission for their children, but some look for a more lasting benefit. These donors establish a scholarship in their name, meant to help not only their children, but their descendents in perpetuity.
While this is quite nice, it also feels somewhat unfair, even in terms of the already unfair practices of legacy admissions. The federal government agrees; and has regulations on how these scholarships work. The way it boils down is this: if the donor wants their donation to be tax deductible, the scholarships must meet these two criteria:
- The name can only be a preference, not a hard requirement
- The recipient of the scholarship does not need to be directly related to the donor of the scholarship
What this means is that if a donor sets up a scholarship to help their descendents, it can also benefit any students that happen to share their name. These are a minor quirk of admissions, but mean there can be a significant amount of money out there for students who aren’t expecting to find it.
A Survey of Named Scholarships
Now, we’re going to go through a list of named scholarships. We’ll cover the schools they’re attached to, and requirements they have, and the benefits they provide. If you see your name on this list, then congratulations, paying for college might just be easier for you than anticipated. We are organizing this list alphabetically, for convenience.
Note that a birth certificate is required for these scholarships, to prove that you were born with the surname in question. You cannot change your name and then apply for the scholarship.
Calvin Huntington Fund
This fund is established at Vassar College, and funds the full tuition for students descended from the eponymous Calvin Huntington. In years when there are no descendants at the school, the fund serves as part of Vassar College’s general need based scholarship funding.
The Gatling Grant
Established by North Carolina State alumnus John Gatling, this is a grant scholarship for students with the surname Gatling or Gatlin. Due to the increased popularity of the scholarship, the school has created a priority system for deciding who is awarded the grant. They prioritize students from North Carolina, and students who demonstrate financial need.
The grant award is for $25,000 total. You must submit a FAFSA to be considered for the grant, as they use this to determine financial need. Having the surname Gatlin(g) does not increase your chances of getting into NC State, merely qualifies you for the scholarship.
Harvard’s Ancestry Based Scholarships
Harvard offers a number of ancestry scholarships. These are even more selective than just name-based scholarships, as you need to demonstrate that you are in fact descended from the family or individual who bequeathed the scholarship funds to the school. If you are descended from one of the following individuals, you qualify for these scholarships:
- John Austin Amory
- John W. Appel
- Henry Bright Jr. (must bare the surname Bright)
- Charles Downer (goes first to his descendents, then to other students with the surname Downer, then to descendents of other members of the class of 1889).
- Thomas Dudley
- David Ellis and Beulah Newell or John and Hannah Ellis
- Alan Bedford Hudson (also open to students with the name Hudson or Baxendale)
- Robert Pennoyer (also open to residents of New Haven CT)
- Edward F. Slater
- Descendents of the class of 1902
Some of these are open to others, which are listed in order of preference to award the funds. Being descended from the individuals on this list does not increase your odds of acceptance to Harvard.
Leavenworth Scholarship
This is a scholarship at Hamilton College, established by the prominent businessman Elias Leavenworth. This scholarship provides tuition funding to any student with the last name Leavenworth. In years where there is no qualifying student, the funding is instead used as part of the school’s general need-based financial aid pool. This is a need based scholarship even for descendents, and having the name Leavenworth does not increase your chances of acceptance to the school.
Malcolm R Stacey Memorial Scholarship
This scholarship is for UC Davis, and is for Jewish students in financial need, with a preference for students pursuing aeronautical engineering. This award was originally restricted to Jewish orphans, but was expanded to be available to Jewish students with need more generally.
Miguel Velez Scholarship
This is a graduate scholarship for the UC system. It is offered by all UC campuses, but each has their own application. It is intended for graduate students from South America, with preference given to students from Colombia and descendents of the donor, Miguel Velez. The scholarship pays for residential fees and provides a $9,000 stipend, but does not help with nonresidential tuition charges.
Van Valkenburg Scholarship Fund
This is a scholarship fund which operates independently, and which offers scholarships with the surname Van Valkenburg, or variant spellings thereof. This scholarship provides $1,500 in funding which can be used towards any college the student decides to attend. You must have a Van Valkenburg ancestor you can write about in order to apply for this scholarship.
The Zolp Scholarship
This scholarship is for Loyola University Chicago, and is awarded to any Catholic student with the last name Zolp who attends the school. You must include both a birth certificate and proof of either baptism or confirmation to confirm you are Catholic to receive this scholarship. The amount of funds given by this scholarship varies, as it is divided among the various recipients of the award.
Other Selective Funds
Named scholarships are not the most common, but many colleges have similar restrictive scholarships, pools of money with restrictions placed on them by donors to recruit or reward various demographics of students. These are often not easy to find, requiring you to go to the scholarships page of the college in question.
We understand why these scholarships are established; donors want to leave a legacy, or to help out students who are in a situation they see as reminiscent of their own. In many cases these are fairly small scholarships, though some may cover full tuition. The number of them is the biggest issue, as it makes sorting through them to find the ones relevant to your own circumstances that much more of a challenge.
Finding these funds ahead of time and then applying based on that knowledge is tricky. Generally, we recommend building your college list first, and then finding any scholarships offered by the schools on it which apply to your unique circumstances. This may require some careful reading of the scholarships page.
Larger and better funded universities tend to have fewer of these, simply because they have larger endowments and are better able to make pronouncements about how scholarship money will be awarded. We’ll compare two schools directly to illustrate this point.
Here is Texas A&M’s scholarships page. It can best be described as extensive. They have many, many, (many) different pools of scholarship funding, many of which require their own additional application materials, and have their own standards for who the money is awarded to.
To compare, here is the page for Rice University, also located in Texas. It has a much briefer note, and does offer some merit scholarships, unlike the Ivy League schools it competes with academically. The only thing you need to do to be considered for any and every scholarship offered by Rice is to apply, and to fill out the financial aid forms it requires (FAFSA and the CSS Profile).
Final Thoughts
Paying for college is a problem many students face, and while these name-specific scholarships are somewhere between amusing footnote and wonderful boon for some students, they aren’t much help to many of them. Colleges increasingly discourage scholarships of this type, preferring general scholarship funds; UChicago’s Odyssey Scholarship is perhaps the largest example of this. Funds like this, with few strings attached for students to qualify for aid, are better for both universities and students alike.
We understand the desire to leave behind a legacy, and to provide for your descendents, and these scholarships are a testament to that. But for most applicants to colleges, these won’t help much at all.
If you’re looking for more feasible ways to find funding for college, or want help in managing the increasingly competitive application process, then schedule a free consultation today. We know the ins and outs of every aspect of college applications, including financial aid, and are always happy to hear from you.
