Despite the continued economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, SCICU once again exceeded its annual fundraising goals. For 2020-21, SCICU raised over $538,000, exceeding its overall goal of $524,000. With supplemental funds coming from the SCICU endowment, almost $697,000 was distributed to SCICU member colleges and universities.
“We at SCICU are proud and humbled by the generosity of our donors who stepped up this year and increased their support for students attending independent colleges and universities in South Carolina,” said SCICU President & CEO Jeff Perez. “In a year that found many families struggling financially, the support of our donors helped students realize the dream of a college education.”
Among SCICU’s donor-supported programs is the SCICU Student Lifeline Grants Program which provides aid to students facing an unexpected financial emergency.
For the second straight year, SCICU was selected as the recipient of a $50,000 Power:Ed grant from the S.C. Student Loan Corporation. The program provides $50,000 for distribution to SCICU’s 20 member colleges and universities to aid in student retention and student degree completion during the 2021-22 academic year.
The SCICU Named Scholars Program continues to be the flagship fundraising program at SCICU with $432,000 being raised for scholarships. Each of the 13 major donors specify the financial need and academic qualifications for scholarship recipients chosen to participate in their respective scholarship programs.
SCICU is proud to recognize the following donors for their contributions to the Named Scholars Program during the 2020-2021 fiscal year:
- The Bailey Foundation
- Colonial Life (UNUM)
- Dominion Energy
- Duke Energy
- Milliken & Company
- Sanders Family Foundation
- S.C. Student Loan Corporation
- Security Federal Bank
- Sonoco Products Company
- Truist Bank
- UPS Foundation
- Wells Fargo Foundation
- Williams & Fudge Company
The funds received from Named Scholars donors during the 2020-2021 fiscal year were distributed to scholarship recipients in September 2021 for the 2021-22 academic year.
“Fully 100 percent of funds raised by SCICU goes toward making it more affordable for South Carolina resident students to attend the independent college or university of their choice in their home state,” said Perez.
Undergraduate student research is also a major focus of SCICU’s annual fundraising campaign. SCICU recognizes the following donors who contributed during the 2020-2021 fiscal year specifically for funding undergraduate student research opportunities for undergraduate students attending SCICU member colleges and universities:
- The Belle W. Baruch Foundation
- BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina
- The Daniel-Mickel Foundation
- The Mills B. Lane Foundation
- SCICU General Endowment
SCICU welcomes gifts of all sizes for supporting independent higher education at its member colleges and universities. Eddie Shannon, SCICU executive vice president, is always available to help with establishing new scholarship programs for students who choose to attend an independent college or university in South Carolina. Eddie can be reached by phone (803-730-2369) or email (eddie@scicu.org). Should you wish to donate to SCICU online, please visit https://scicu.org/new/donate/.