With student fees on the rise and state funding for higher education diminishing in the face of California’s $41 billion budget deficit, UCLA is expanding to generate much needed funding for graduate fellowships and undergraduate scholarships through the Bruin Scholars Initiative.
“This is an answer exclusively for students,” Chancellor Gene Block, who announced the Bruin Scholars Initiative Thursday morning, said. “I believe deeply in it.”
Block and his wife Carol were among the first to kick off initial contributions with a commitment of $100,000. The initiative has set a goal of raising $500 million by June 30, 2013.
“The greatness of the university is dependent upon the very high quality of the students and the faculty here,” said Phil Hampton, a spokesman for the university. “It is imperative that a steady stream of ongoing funding be created specifically and exclusively for student support.”
The Bruin Scholars Initiative mounts upon the success of the June 2004 Ensuring Academic Excellence Initiative, which was launched by then-chancellor Albert Carnesale to secure funding for both undergraduate and graduate students.
Hampton said that initiative met its goal of generating $250 million in four years instead of the planned five. Ultimately, $113 million was raised for new endowed professorships and more than $137 million for student scholarships and fellowships.
The new initiative aims to generate $300 million for fellowships and $200 million for scholarships.
Hampton added that 80 percent of the money, $240 million for endowed fellowships and $160 million for endowed scholarships, will go toward endowed funds, while the remainder will be used for immediate needs.
Altogether, Hampton said, the amount of student support provided by the Bruin Scholars Initiative will double the amount of endowed funds for students and more than triple the amount of student support that was raised by its predecessor.
Hampton said that the money will provide opportunities in which students can participate, such as study abroad programs. Graduates will be offered more opportunities to join fellowships.
“We are competing with other top-tier universities across the country for the best graduate students, and many of those institutions have greater resources at their disposal,” Hampton said.
“It is absolutely critical to generate some funding to provide fellowships.”
The Bruin Scholars Initiative seeks to keep UCLA students out of the financial strain of the state and provide a broader horizon.
“We’re trying to respond the best we can,” Block said Thursday morning. “This is something we’re now talking to our many donors about, and I hope we’ll be able to look back in a few years and be successful with more funds to help improve access to the university.”