The Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences has a long history of opening the door to higher education for students from every background. That has not wavered despite the upward pressure put on tuition due to rising costs and declining state support nationally. Providing accessible and affordable education is an imperative for the Dietrich School that reflects our core values.
Financial support plays a key role in a student’s success. It reduces the need for off-campus jobs that do not enhance coursework, and enables undergraduate research opportunities and enriching extracurricular activities.
Endowed scholarships provide critical funding on which our students can count—year after year. For donors, it allows their legacy to extend for decades. For the Dietrich School, endowed scholarships allow us to attract and retain generations of high-achieving and deserving students.
The need for scholarships has never been greater.
Julia Eger (A&S '19)
While at Pitt, Julia Eger (A&S ’19) blossomed into an expert and advocate for the needs of homeless children. She filled every summer with internships and research projects and sought volunteer opportunities throughout the school year. All this while earning a double major in Political Science and Economics, and graduating with honors in just three and a half years.
“A lot of the internships I took were unpaid. So having that extra help with my tuition enabled me to more comfortably pursue opportunities that involved financial sacrifices,” said Julia who received the Jerome C. Wells Scholarship and the Mary Stanko Clifford Scholarship.
“It also meant a lot to me that Pitt believed in me enough from the very start of my college career to give me these awards.”
Julia completed research projects exploring how teachers, nonprofits, and parents can help homeless children stay on grade level. She reviewed hundreds of studies, interviewed a diverse group of stakeholders, and offered a series of policy and practice recommendations based on her research, some of which were put into practice by the Homeless Children’s Education Fund.
“I would like to give back in the future to honor all of the opportunities I had and to help other students realize their goals,” Julia said. “Thank you to everyone who has enabled a student’s dream by supporting them with a scholarship.”