Saint Mary's students will have the opportunity to add to their financial aid package with a new scholarship funded by the Hearst Foundation.
The Hearst Foundation, founded by William Randolph Hearst, has donated $60,000 to Saint Mary's College to benefit students who are academically talented, but also economically disadvantaged. Students who are members of an underrepresented minority will have priority, according to a College press release.
"We anticipate the average award per student to be $2,500 each year, which will be added on top of their current financial aid package," director of financial aid Kathleen Brown said.
The Class of 2014 is the first class of students to receive the Hearst scholarship for the 2012-13 academic year.
"We anticipate that 12 students overall will receive this award," Brown said
Scholarships will be given the student's junior year and renewed for senior year. Students must be US citizens, eligible for the Federal Pell Grant Program and ideally majoring in science, math or engineering, according to Brown said. The process of determining this year's Hearst Scholars is currently being finalized, she said.
"The hope is that this scholarship will help students to graduate with less debt," Brown said.
Brown said this scholarship is part of an ongoing goal of providing more aid to eligible students.
"Part of [President Carol Ann Mooney's] last strategic plan was that we provide aid to 100 percent of Pell-eligible students," Brown said.
Emphasis for Hearst Scholar candidates is also put on students of an underrepresented minority, the press release stated. Minorities represented 13.5 percent of total students at Saint Mary's during the 2011-12 school year, according to Saint Mary's Institutional Research. Underrepresented minorities currently present at Saint Mary's include African American, American Indian, Asian, Hispanic and Native Hawaiian.
The Hearst Foundation has a strong tie to students with culturally diverse backgrounds. Their mission is to identify and fund outstanding nonprofits to ensure that people of all backgrounds in the United States have the opportunity to build healthy, productive and inspiring lives, according to the Hearst Foundation.
Making a Saint Mary's education affordable to girls with different educational and ethnic backgrounds has also long been a mission of Saint Mary's, according to the College website.
Contact Caroline Rech at crech01@saintmarys.edu
