Investing in Educational Opportunity

Campaign Goal: $50 Million

Our core priority in this campaign is strengthening Gettysburg’s extraordinary commitment to access. The best way to do that is boosting the endowment dedicated to financial aid.

Through this priority, we are building on Gettysburg’s special commitment to student access over the last decade, during which we doubled our annual financial aid budget. This priority also has a competitive context, because our peers are also using need-based and merit aid to attract students ready to thrive academically, engage fully in campus life, and contribute meaningfully to the community.

Yet, endowments of peers still far exceed ours, even though Gettysburg stands shoulder to shoulder in academic quality with them. Indeed, our endowment is only 60% of the endowment average across our peer group. If we can close this gap, we can and will invest as never before in financial aid that brings the most talented students here, where they belong.

We can achieve this goal by funding these campaign priorities:

• Endow and name full-tuition scholarships that open Gettysburg’s doors to exceptional students whose talent and potential might otherwise place a Gettysburg education out of reach.
• Endow and name general scholarships that provide flexible financial aid resources, enabling the College to respond strategically to student needs and enrollment priorities.
• Expand current-use financial aid resources—including funds that support admissions recruitment and counselor engagement—and make the College far more nimble in meeting student needs and competing successfully for outstanding students.

“Gettysburg gave me more than an education. It gave me the confidence to lead. It taught me the value of community, leadership, and service, and those lessons continue to shape how I show up in the world.”

– Jaclynn Cross  ’10