By Rachel Konieczny
Assistant News Editor
An Erie couple with ties to both St. Bonaventure and Villa Maria Academy established a $5,000 scholarship for a Villa Maria Academy student planning to attend St. Bonaventure University.
Villa Maria Academy is a Roman Catholic high school in Erie, Pennsylvania.
According to Dr. Emily Morris, vice president of university relations, the anonymous patrons have created an endowment to provide in perpetuity a $5,000 scholarship for Villa Maria graduates with a strong academic background. The award will begin as a single scholarship for one student and will expand by gaining interest to provide additional awards as the fund grows. The scholarship is to be disbursed $1,250 per year over a four-year period in addition to external scholarships and university financial aid, given the student maintain academic standards.
Morris said that the alumnus and his wife have a strong affiliations with both institutions. The alumnus’ wife is a graduate of Villa Maria, while the alumnus spent time at SBU.
“We’ll take a look at the students from the high school who applied and while they certainly want it to go to a student with strong academic caliber, that’s not the only thing that they want the award to be looking for,” Morris said. “They’re interested in a well-rounded student who also represents a commitment to service, because that’s important to both organizations and if we get down to a tie-breaker between some very similar candidates, [the scholarship donors] said that we could take a look at families’ need as one way to help to decide where the gift would make the most impact.”
Bonaventure is recognized for its value as an academic institution. Morris said SBU is ranked by U.S. News and World Report as the top scholarship and value proposition of any college and university in the state of New York and among the top three in the northern United States in terms of regional institutions.
“This is exactly the kind of support that we need right now,” Morris said. “While we have [the best value in New York State], we still have families who find it difficult to choose St. Bonaventure. Even with all of the aid that we provide as an institution and what they might qualify for in terms of external scholarships or need-based aid, sometimes families still cannot make the choice for St. Bonaventure.”
Morris believes the scholarship will alleviate some of the financial pressure for families.
“This is the kind of scholarship that enables us to help families choose us to narrow that gap of funding of financial responsibility from the family’s side of things.”
