Centennial Fellowship Acceleration Initiative
Graduate Studies is launching a new cycle of a very successful fellowship initiative to support graduate student priorities such as research and scholarly excellence. The Centennial Fellowship Acceleration Initiative invites donors to establish a named endowment to support academic graduate students in any graduate program or area of study. Via this initiative, Graduate Studies provides fellowship support for a period of 10 years allowing the endowment to grow untouched during this time. Instead of funding fellowships from the endowment during this period, all investment earnings are reinvested so that the endowment should grow significantly during the same 10-year period based on expected average annual earnings. The fellowship initiative provides a significant benefit to donors and students as the unique payout accelerates the impact of donor’s gifts via a commitment funded by Graduate Studies. Gifts to support the Centennial Fellowship Acceleration Initiative enable graduate students to focus on their priorities such as research and scholarship while ensuring that financial hardship doesn’t impede access or progress.
Structure and Terms:
- Minimum donation: $50,000 endowed gift for Graduate Student Fellowships.
10-year period of increased fellowship funding provided by Graduate Studies while the endowment income is reinvested.
How It Works:
- Unlike the traditional model in which the approximately 4% fellowship payout is deducted from the endowment income, Graduate Studies funds the fellowship payout for 10 years. The annual accelerated Graduate Studies funding amount is approximately 8% of the original gift amount.
- As an added benefit, this initiative immediately doubles the impact of your gift as Graduate Studies provides annual support as if the gift was twice the original amount.
Acceleration Initiative:
- As an example, if an endowment is created at the minimum level of $50,000, the typical fellowship payout is approximately 4% annually, or $2,000. With the Centennial Fellowship Acceleration Initiative, Graduate Studies will instead fund an annual student award equaling $4,000, which is the standard award payout as if the donor gave a $100,000 gift.
- Graduate Studies will support 10 years of the annual fellowship payout at approximately 8% of the original gift amount. At that point, the fund will have grown significantly in value and become self-sustaining. Therefore, it will function as a normal endowment with a standard payout.
- This approach enables the endowment investment gains to be reinvested in the fund for a period of 10 years, significantly increasing the fund’s value and thus the future payout amount.
Please contact Janet Berry at [email protected] or 530-902-1624 for additional information.