Qualified students at Penn State Hazleton and Penn State Schuylkill will now have additional financial support available to them through scholarships newly established at each campus by the First Federal Charitable Foundation.
The First Federal Charitable Foundation Educational Equity Scholarships — each totaling $100,000 and endowed in perpetuity with a one-to-one match in funding through Penn State’s recently concluded Educational Equity Matching Program — will help generations of college students become leaders in their chosen fields, in Luzerne and Schuylkill counties, and in the larger world. Scholarship funding will be awarded annually to eligible students attending Penn State Hazleton and Penn State Schuylkill whose gender, race, ethnic, cultural, and/or national backgrounds contribute to the diversity of the student body and who have a demonstrated financial need for funds to meet their necessary college expenses.
Penn State Schuylkill Chancellor Patrick M. Jones said, “We are grateful to the First Federal Charitable Foundation for its vision in establishing these scholarships at Penn State Schuylkill and Penn State Hazleton. Not only will these gifts make a Penn State education accessible and affordable for our students, they will help ensure that our campuses reflect the growing diversity of our region and make our communities stronger.”
Making a Penn State education accessible and affordable is a top priority for the Hazleton and Schuylkill campuses. Most of the campuses’ students come from hard-working Luzerne and Schuylkill County families, with 55% of Schuylkill students and 43% of Hazleton students being the first in their families to attend college.
Megan Kennedy, executive director of the First Federal Charitable Foundation, said, “As part of our mission, we work every day to provide funding that will help improve the lives of area residents. We are proud to play a role in helping to give Penn State students in Luzerne and Schuylkill counties a brighter future and help them achieve their dreams.”
The First Federal Charitable Foundation has been generous in its support of both campuses in the past, establishing the First Federal Charitable Foundation Trustee Scholarship at Penn State Hazleton in 2011, contributing funding toward other scholarships at Penn State Hazleton, and providing support for science lab renovations and community initiatives at Penn State Schuylkill.
Penn State Hazleton Chancellor Gary M. Lawler said, “The First Federal Charitable Foundation has been a wonderful, long-time partner in supporting Penn State Hazleton students as they work to earn a Penn State degree and realize their professional aspirations. I am especially appreciative of the importance the foundation has put on helping us to make our campus inclusive to all members of our community by establishing this new scholarship.”
The First Federal Charitable Foundation Educational Equity Scholarships will advance "A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence," a focused campaign that seeks to elevate Penn State’s position as a leading public university in a world defined by rapid change and global connections. With the support of alumni and friends, “A Greater Penn State” seeks to fulfill the three key imperatives of a 21st-century public university: keeping the doors to higher education open to hardworking students regardless of financial well-being; creating transformative experiences that go beyond the classroom; and impacting the world by serving communities and fueling discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. To learn more about “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” visit greaterpennstate.psu.edu.
The First Federal Charitable Foundation was established to support worthwhile community causes. It strives to nurture nonprofit institutions and programs that will effectively serve those in need from the community, empower nonprofit institutions and programs that will expand their presence in and services to the area, and promote opportunities for new nonprofit institutions and programs that will serve the unserved.
Nonprofit organizations with a 501(c)(3) IRS designation that are located in Luzerne, Schuylkill, Carbon and Columbia counties are eligible to apply. Any organization whose headquarters is in another county but services either Luzerne, Schuylkill, Carbon or Columbia counties may apply for a grant to be used in one of those counties.