Student Support
Attracting the best students—and ensuring access to a Carolina-caliber education—rank among our highest priorities. Continue reading to learn how you can help.
Carolina Merit Scholarship Campaign
Ask the nation’s most outstanding students why they come to Carolina and the list of answers is endless: a world-class faculty, undergraduate research opportunities, Carolina athletics, and a beautiful campus in the perfect college town.
Ask the nation’s most outstanding students why they did not come to Carolina and the answer is simple: “Carolina did not offer me a merit scholarship.”
Simply put, merit-based scholarships will help Carolina win the national recruiting battle to bring the finest and most promising young minds to the University.
The value of merit-based scholarships
Merit-based scholarships are an important complement to the need-based scholarship program for which Carolina is so well known.
Merit-based scholarships recognize the phenomenal academic achievement that students have attained in order to qualify for admission to Carolina. Merit-based scholarships signal to students that they are wanted and valued by the University. In fact, a competitive merit program is one of the most effective ways for Carolina to recruit students with exceptional academic and leadership potential. Universities such as Duke, NC State, Wake Forest, and the Universities of Georgia and Florida are using their competitive merit-based scholarships to take superior students away from Carolina. The end result is that, despite our existing merit programs, 50 percent of the top North Carolina students accepted for admission to Carolina go to out-of-state universities because of their merit awards.
Merit-based scholarships are also valuable tools to help defray the cost of a Carolina education for high-achieving, middle-income students who do not meet the federal standards for need-based financial aid. These outstanding students, caught in the “middle-class squeeze” with a family income that just missed qualifying for need based aid, would love to attend Carolina but worry about the sacrifices their families will have to make to pay 100% of the cost. This worry can lead these students to enroll at other schools that have offered them merit-based scholarships that will relieve them and their families of numerous student loans and burdensome debt after graduation.
The Carolina Merit Campaign
Ultimately, we hope to double the number of institutionally-funded scholarships that we currently offer. In this first phase of merit scholarship fundraising, our goal is to establish 200 new in-state and 20 new out-of-state merit-based scholarships. Fully funding all these scholarships will require approximately $20 million in endowment.
Gift Opportunities
Option One: Create a Named Scholarship Endowment Fund
In-State
Advantage Scholars
Minimum to endow one Advantage Scholars award: $100,000
Campaign Goal: 100 new Advantage awards
Advantage Scholarships are given to high-achieving, middle-income North Carolinians who just miss qualifying for need-based aid.* Advantage Scholars receive an annual scholarship of a minimum of $5,000, renewable for four years. As the endowment income grows, the award amount may grow, and up to 10% of the annual income may be used to support Advantage Scholars programming, such as special recruiting trips, selection weekends at Carolina, mentoring, and other activities.*At Carolina, eligibility for need-based federal grant aid peaks out at about $75,000, for a family of four (average is about $50,000). For purposes of estimating the target population for the Advantage Scholarships initiative, assume that “middle-income” will mean $75,000 and higher.
Founders Scholars
Minimum to endow one Founders Scholars award: $60,000
Campaign Goal: 100 new Founders awards
The Founders Scholars program is designed for outstanding North Carolina students and helps recruit the most desirable in-state students to the University without any consideration of income. Founders Scholars receive an annual scholarship of a minimum of $3,000, renewable for four years. As the endowment income grows, the award amount may grow, and up to 10% of the annual income may be used to support Founders Scholars programming, such as special recruiting trips, selection weekends at Carolina, mentoring, and other activities.
Out-Of-State
Carolina Scholars
Minimum to endow one out-of-state Carolina Scholars award: $400,000
Campaign Goal: 20 new out-of-state Carolina Scholars awards
The Carolina Scholars program helps the University compete for the most promising students in the state and nation. The program offers students automatic participation in the Honors Program, one-to-one faculty mentoring, and leadership opportunities throughout their time here at Carolina. Carolina Scholars receive an annual scholarship of a minimum of $15,000, renewable for four years. Up to 10% of the annual endowment income may be used to support Carolina Scholars programming.
Option Two: Contribute to the:
- Merit-Based Scholarship General Endowment Fund, or to the
- Advantage Scholars General Endowment Fund
Gifts of any size may be made to either of these general funds.
Questions About Making a Gift?
Please feel free to contact Elizabeth Dunn, senior associate vice chancellor for development, at 919-962-3292 or edunn@unc.edu.
Ready to Make Your Gift?
You may make a gift online at giving.unc.edu/gift. You may also mail your gift for any of the Merit Campaign priorities to the following address:
Carolina Merit Campaign
c/o Elizabeth Dunn
Office of University Development
208 West Franklin Street, Campus Box 6100
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-6100
Carolina Covenant Campaign
“College should be possible for everyone who can make the grade, regardless of family income. A covenant is a promise. With the Carolina Covenant, we are telling students that, despite what they may see in the news, college is affordable, no matter how limited their financial resources.”
—Chancellor James Moeser
What is the Carolina Covenant?
On Oct. 1, 2003, Chancellor James Moeser announced a groundbreaking initiative to give the children of low-income families an opportunity to attend Carolina—without borrowing a penny. The Carolina Covenant enables low-income students to come to Carolina and graduate debt-free if they work on campus 10 to 12 hours a week in Federal Work-Study jobs during their four years here. Carolina is the first public university in America to launch such an initiative. The Carolina Covenant is more than the promise of debt-free attendance at the University through an exceptional financial aid package. It is also a commitment to student success, through a comprehensive infrastructure of support systems. Every effort is made to ensure that Carolina Covenant Scholars have the opportunity to successfully complete their baccalaureate education.
Who are the Covenant Scholars?
Students who qualify for the Carolina Covenant program are first admitted to the University solely on the basis of their academic qualifications. The average SAT of Covenant Scholars is over 1220, and their average high school GPA exceeds 4.0. Only after they are admitted to the University is their financial need assessed. The family income of a Carolina Covenant Scholar is less than 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, and the average family income of Covenant Scholars is approximately $20,500.
Most of the Carolina Covenant Scholars—nearly 90 percent—are North Carolina natives. More than half of them are first-generation college attendees, and approximately 60 percent of them are students of color.
The Covenant Campaign
Additional resources beyond those currently available are needed to fully fund the Covenant. Between 2004 and 2007, generous donors contributed $10 million to support the launch and early implementation of the Covenant program. Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams and his wife Wanda served as honorary chairs of this initial fundraising campaign.
Now, we are seeking to raise an additional $10 million to assure full support for Covenant students in the future. We want to be ready in the upcoming decades to keep our promise of a debt-free Carolina education to these low-income students. Because we are planning for the longer-term, this additional $10 million campaign has a special focus on planned gifts. With a bequest or other planned gift, donors can assure that future generations of Covenant scholars will receive all the assistance they need.
Gift Opportunities
Establish a Carolina Covenant endowment fund. Donors who wish to create and name an endowment to support the Carolina Covenant may do so with a minimum gift of $100,000. Income from the endowment will be used for Covenant Scholars and the Covenant program.
Contribute to the Covenant General Endowment Fund. Gifts of any size may be made to the Covenant’s general endowment. Income from the general endowment will be used to for Covenant Scholars and the Covenant program.
Making Your Gift
If you want to set up an individual Covenant endowment fund or make a planned gift in support of the Covenant, please contact Elizabeth Dunn, senior associate vice chancellor for development, at 919-962-3292 or edunn@unc.edu.
You may make a gift to the Covenant General Endowment Fund online at giving.unc.edu/gift. Look for “Scholarships and Student Aid” in the University Designation menu.
You may also mail your support for either of the Covenant gift opportunities to the following address:
The Carolina Covenant
c/o Elizabeth Dunn
Office of University Development
208 West Franklin Street, Campus Box 6100
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-6100
Learn more about the Carolina Covenant at www.unc.edu/carolinacovenant.
