Thanks to private support, more than 25 percent of Penn State undergraduates receive scholarship support each year. But there’s more work to be done.

Anita Leone is the associate director of University scholarships and special programs in Penn State’s Office of Student Aid, where she oversees the awarding of funds to students in need. Here, Anita talks about the importance of scholarships at Penn State and in higher education.

What is the real impact of scholarship support?

Scholarships can be our most effective means of helping students with high financial need to reduce their educational debt and graduate on time, and that can have an impact on their whole future. Even after families have secured all the state and federal funding for which they’re eligible, there is currently a gap for undergraduate students, ranging from an annual average of $6,000 per student at our campuses to $9,000 per student at University Park, that is covered primarily through federal parent loans, private alternative loans, or additional income.

When students try to work multiple jobs while they’re in school to reduce their debt, they take fewer credits, and then they extend their education to a fifth or sixth year, which creates the need to take out more loans. That delay and that debt become burdens not only to students, but to society as well. They enter the professional workforce later, they put off purchasing cars and homes, they can’t contribute to their communities and the economy at the highest level.

The support that we’ve received in the last few campaigns has allowed us to make great inroads on this problem, and more than 25 percent of Penn State undergraduates now receive scholarships every year. Every day, though, I see students who need more help in solving the puzzle of funding their educations. Through the programming and endowments that are priorities in the current campaign, A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence, we can fill in some of the missing pieces and help students to do what they’re here to do: earn a degree and become successful in their careers and lives.