niversities nationwide are pulling out all the stops to attract talented freshmen representing diverse cultural backgrounds--students like Lindsay Joy Hall, Delaware 2000, a National Achievement Commended Scholar who earned top grades at Philadelphia's Central High School. Based on her academic record and a Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) score of 1300, Hall could have attended any number of universities throughout the country. In fact, she applied to six other institutions. Fortunately, the University of Delaware was able to offer her a merit scholarship to cover tuition. She also received a room-and-board award from RISE (Resources to Insure Successful Engineers), a program that relies on University and private dollars.
Hall says the University of Delaware was her first-choice institution, but scholarship offers naturally played a crucial role in her decision-making process. Family responsibilities are important to Hall, and her parents, Nathan and Shirley Hall of Weymouth, N.J., are raising three other children. Through the RISE program,
Hall got a jump-start on her University classes by attending a five-week summer orientation session. She's now an Honors student with an eye on a chemical engineering degree and a career in the pharmaceutical industry.
Established 25 years ago, the RISE program provides support for talented young engineers representing African-American, Hispanic and Native American backgrounds, explains RISE Director Michael L. Vaughan, who also serves as assistant dean of the College of Engineering. Throughout the years, Vaughan says, corporate support has been crucial to the program. The DuPont Co., for instance, has sustained RISE since its inception, by contributing unrestricted gifts‚-even when other funding sources were limited. Most recently, RISE expanded its physical operations because of a lead contribution by Air Products & Chemicals Inc. of Allentown, Pa. The improved facilities will make it possible to reach more students, Vaughan says.
Roughly 74 percent of all freshmen enrolled for the 1996-97 school year are receiving some type of financial aid. Because qualified applicants should never be denied an education, the University constantly seeks ways to meet the financial needs of its student body. As a result, University-controlled financial aid dollars have increased by 140 percent over the past six years, made possible largely by private contributions and state assistance. In the Intercollegiate Athletics Program, Director Edgar N. Johnson reports, scholarship support has increased dramatically, in part to ensure equal opportunities for both male and female athletes.
Scholarships and affordable tuition rates allow students like Stacey Bonvetti, Delaware '97, of Wilmington to pursue a dream. An agricultural sciences student, Bonvetti is currently studying biological strategies for controlling crop pests. Bonvetti, a member of the Future Farmers of America while in high school, is grateful to receive two scholarships, supported by University, private and state funds. "I'm working my way through school, and scholarships really help," she says. "I wouldn't be able to do it without them."
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Private support
