Where We Need Your Help

For some students, tuition is a struggle. Others may make ends meet for tuition but then might run out of funds for books and supplies.

Your gifts to Dean's Merit Scholarship funds enable each of the colleges to ensure each student can meet the most basic financial obligation to complete the chosen course of study.

When making a contribution to the Dean's Merit Scholarship effort, you do have the option of choosing which college should benefit from your gift:

• College of Education and Communications (5305)
• Eberly College of Business (5310)
• College of Arts and Humanities (5397)
• College of Health and Human Services (5311)
• Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (5313)

You may make an immediate gift online by following the link above. Or, get print forms that you may mail to us. Either way, we thank you!

The success of IUP's athletics programs translates into positive publicity for the university, the town, and the region. With your support, IUP's athletes can win on the field and in the classroom.

In today’s college admissions marketplace, qualified students and their parents are discriminating in their choice of college. After-graduation debt load is a factor. The Academic Achievement Scholarship is meant to attract these highly qualified students to IUP and our top-notch student experience.

Students and their professors who are passionate about the study of the human condition, culture, language, and societal trends require modern space that can accommodate the best technology. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is providing the basics for a new facility that is under construction, but you can help to take this facility to a higher level--to the cutting edge--through philanthropic investment. Your gift and this new facility ensure IUP students will be prepared to become leaders who are articulate and creative, have critical thinking skills, and develop a strong knowledge base in the humanities. It also ensures our faculty members can produce more knowledge and continue to contribute to their respective fields of study in an environment conducive to the highest standards of scholarship.

As part of the university community's shared vision, IUP and our faculty are committed to conducting research and scholarly service that provide solutions to real problems in consultation with the community. Students directly benefit from these experiences and in, many instances, share in the research activities. Our current science facility, Weyandt Hall, is a half century old. In the midst of a space study for our science programs, we know we must construct a new building and are evaluating what portions of Weyandt, if any, may be retained for the best return on investment.

In 2013, we formed a Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Advisory board comprising some of the nation's best mindsalumni who are leaders in the science communityto advise us on what today's students need to become tomorrow's science leaders. A new building with the most modern laboratory and learning settings is key in accomplishing what these leading scientists believe IUP students need. Your investment will bring their collective advice to fruition.

IUP sends between 225 and 250 students abroad to study at various points around the world.

Communications technology makes the world a smaller place, and today's workplace more frequently demands that U.S. workers understand other cultures as they interact with professionals in other countries.

To meet our changing society, IUP's Office of International Education is working to attract more interest in study-abroad options, but the office's staff recognizes that it takes extra money—travel and living expenses and passport and visa costs—out of students' pockets. In response, the office has established a fund for study-abroad scholarships.

"Even if our students choose to stay in western Pennsylvania after graduation, the chances are great that they will need to understand how to interact with people of other cultures," said Michele Petrucci, association vice president of international education and global engagement. "We want to be sure our students are ready for that. When we send them overseas for personal or academic enrichment, the better we prepare them and the more valuable they will be in the workplace.

You may make an immediate gift online to any IUP scholarship fund by following the link above. Or, get print forms that you may mail to us. Either way, we thank you!

Former IUP Libraries Dean Luis Gonzalez provided a few estimates to illustrate what operating a modern library costs. Garnering support for the libraries system through the Fund for IUP Libraries is a key to continuing progress.

“Gifts of any size are helpful. While our needs are great, we are able to make incredible use of smaller gifts, because they can translate into single items, such as books and small-scale equipment,” Gonzalez said.

Currently, IUP is able to spend roughly $1.75 million annually on acquisitions, defined as books, periodicals, subscriptions, monographs, database licensing and renewals, etc. But, Gonzalez believes that a libraries system in a university of IUP’s size should spend $2.25 million. The challenge, he said, is that periodicals and database subscription costs rise between 5 to 10 percent annually.

Today’s students are required to access the Internet and other online resources, which requires tools and, for many students, training on how to use the tools. Were Gonzalez to get his wish for additional classrooms, which would allow him to expand his operation’s services, one classroom would require an initial investment of $17,000 for computers—accommodating fifteen students—and an interactive whiteboard, which costs roughly $8,000.

He said the computers would need to be replaced—because of upgrades and wear and tear—every two to three years. The libraries’ Special Collections and Archives Department doubles as a treasure chest of rare pieces and archives, has no state-funded budget. Rather, it relies on the generosity of the private sector to fund its acquisitions, which often provide historical insight to the university community or become focal points for engaging discussion. For example, the Special Collections area used private funding to purchase first-edition works of Jules Verne.

This area also holds all the official papers of the R&P Coal Company, including mine maps, which are used for modern-day safety and rescue as well as for historical research. Special Collections would benefit from the donation of rare or historical items or monetary gifts to acquire them.