An anonymous donor’s matching challenge for Lawrence University to raise $25 million for student scholarships has been met.
The university’s “Full Speed to Full Need” initiative raised $26.9 million in 15 months.
Lawrence will establish an endowment for just under $52 million to use exclusively for scholarships. The campaign created 48 new student scholarships, including one by a Kaukauna family that will directly help local students.
The Paulson Family Scholarship, established by Tom and Mary Paulson and their three children, will provide a four-year scholarship at Lawrence for a Kaukauna High School graduate who has demonstrated financial need.
Tom Paulson said he wanted to create the scholarship in part because “Lawrence is often overlooked due to the financial barrier.”
Paulson graduated from Lawrence as a non-traditional student at the age of 32 in 1993 thanks in part to financial support he received from the college.
In the absence of a qualified student from Kaukauna High School, the full-need scholarship will be awarded to a student from any Fox Valley high school.
"Having a local family support Fox Cities’ students is extremely moving to me,” said Lawrence President Mark Burstein said in a media release. “While Lawrence attracts applicants from across the country and around the world, we are honored that every year many local residents choose Lawrence. The Paulson Family Scholarship will help us attract and support excellent students from our own back yard.”
Lawrence currently enrolls six students from Kaukauna and 67 from the Fox Cities.
