Donor Scholarships

Scholarship contributions change lives.

Many William Paterson University students receive some form of funding from federal and state student aid programs. However, for far too many, it is simply not enough.

Donor scholarships make a significant difference in the lives of hundreds of deserving students each year.  Scholarships help to alleviate students’ anxiety about paying for school. Students are able to focus on their studies and fully participate in the University’s many experiential and extracurricular activities. With your support, we are helping to turn students’ dreams of earning a college degree into a reality.

Establishing a Donor Scholarship
The William Paterson University Foundation offers donors several options for supporting scholarships:

Named Donor Scholarship Funds

  • Endowed scholarships allow donors to provide scholarship support to students in perpetuity. Interest earned from the funds is awarded annually to students while the principal remains intact. A minimum donation of $25,000 (one-time donation or paid over several years) is required to establish a named endowed scholarship.
  • Annual scholarships allow donors to support students on an annual basis. Typically, funds received in one fiscal year (July 1 – June 30) will be awarded to students for the following fiscal year. A minimum donation of $1,000 is required to establish a named annual scholarship.

Click here to see the list of named donor scholarships offered during the current academic year.


General Scholarship Fund
Gifts of any amount to the General Scholarship Fund are combined with gifts to this fund from other donors to provide scholarship support to students on an annual basis.

Recognition
Donors who establish named donor scholarship funds are recognized in the following ways:

  • Inclusion in donor listings in various University publications;
  • Invitation to the annual Scholarship Dinner, including the opportunity to meet the recipient(s) of your scholarship; and
  • Information about scholarship recipient(s) and thank you letters from recipient(s) are provided annually to donors.

For more information about establishing a named donor scholarship, please contact Mariel Read Essner at 973.720.3811 or click here to make a gift to support a scholarship.