NDSU has received a $1 million endowment from the Bernard Osher Foundation to support scholarships for adult learners who are beginning college or returning to college to finish an undergraduate degree.
“The Bernard Osher Foundation endowment will allow NDSU to sustain efforts to attract adult learners and help them achieve their educational goals,” said Laura Oster-Aaland, dean of enrollment management. “NDSU is fortunate to have been chosen by the foundation to be stewards of these funds.”
The Bernard Osher Foundation has each year since 2012 provided NDSU with a $50,000 grant to assist adult learners.
Scholarships ranging from $2,500 to $5,000 have been awarded to 21 re-entry students and adult learners studying several disciplines the last two academic years. NDSU awarded 15 Osher scholarships this academic year.
The Osher Foundation defines re-entry students as individuals who have experienced an interruption in their education of five or more years, and who want to resume their education at the undergraduate level. The scholarship is intended to benefit students age 25-50.
The average age of a student who receives the Bernard Osher Foundation Scholarship at NDSU is 34.
NDSU will continue through the Osher endowment to award at least 10 scholarships of up to $5,000 each year.
The Bernard Osher Foundation was founded in 1977 to improve quality of life through support for higher education and the arts. It awards yearly institutional grants of up to $50,000 to several universities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Grants can be awarded for up to three years.
The foundation considers permanent $1 million support for Osher Re-entry Scholarships when institutions demonstrate a successful outcome with yearly institutional grants.
“The Osher scholarship helped me find the balance I needed to excel in my studies and still manage my other obligations,” said Kevin Doran, a 35-year-old civil engineering major from Stanley, North Dakota. “I have now managed to make the dean’s list four semesters in a row, and have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.933. The Osher scholarship helped make that possible.”
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation’s top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.
