Create Your Own Scholarship
You may create your own scholarship and fund it annually, through an endowment, with a gift from your will or estate plan, or with a combination of these funding options.
A scholarship can honor family, friends, or another meaningful person by creating a legacy for future generations. You can design your scholarship help students in a specific major, degree, or certificate program. You may also support a specific student population such as first-year students, single parents, students impacted by incarceration, etc. Because we are a public institution, we are unable to establish scholarships based on race, gender, ethnicity, or disability status.
To meet federal criteria for charitable gifts, donors are not able to direct the scholarship to a specific recipient(s).
Scholarship Funding Options
Annually Funded Scholarship $5,000+
You can establish a scholarship funded with annual gifts of $5,000 or more, with a commitment to support the scholarship for at least five years. A $5,000 scholarship will cover tuition and basic fees for one full-time student, for two semesters. This funding can come from a variety of sources including donor advised funds (DAFs), stock transfers, and if you’re over age 70½, from qualified charitable distributions from your IRA. To help students succeed and take full advantage of the education experience at SLCC, our scholarships are designed to award full tuition and fees to both full and part-time students, often in combination with federal and state aid.
Endowed Scholarship $5,000+
Endowed scholarships are designed to be permanent and perpetual. An endowment can be established with a gift of at least $50,000. The SLCC Foundation will invest the gift and after a maturing period of one year, a percentage of the endowment’s earnings will be awarded to students each year.
Planned gift from a will, trust, or estate plan
A scholarship can be funded with a gift planned in an estate such as a bequest in a will, beneficiary designation on life insurance or retirement accounts, and many other financial instruments. Planned gifts leave a lasting impact on students for generations to come and help create a legacy around the programs and fields most important to you.
The SLCC Foundation has established a Planned Giving Advisory Council made up of experts in the planned giving field. These professionals are here to help you plan a gift to support students with a scholarship.
Here are the ways you can customize your new scholarship:
- Area of study
- Background:
- First generation to attend college
- Single parent
- From a specific area high school or home county
- Military service/Veterans
- Dedication to community service
- Financial need
- GPA
- Letter of Recommendation
- Preference given to students with a specific business affiliation
The SLCC Foundation will help you build your scholarship criteria to ensure a significant pool of candidates is available.