Starr calls Baylor Nation to support $100 million student scholarship initiative

The costs of higher education nationwide have only risen in recent years, due not only to inflation but also to increased expectations from students and their families as to what the college experience should entail. More and more students depend on scholarships to make attending college possible; approximately 90% of Baylor students receive some form of financial assistance through gift aid or loans, but it’s not enough. A survey last year found that two-thirds of students know someone who had to leave Baylor due to finances.

Baylor President Ken Starr began his tenure emphasizing that students are Baylor’s top priority. That’s why yesterday, Starr announced the launch of an initiative that will raise $100 million for Baylor student scholarships. (To watch Starr’s announcement, click here.)

“Baylor University remains a ‘best buy,’ and we’re thankful for that,” Starr told the Lariat. “At the same time, it’s on our hearts to care about our students and to care about the families and to care about the debt loads students leave Baylor University with, and we want to address that. We want to call the entire Baylor family together to help address it.”

This drive hits close to home for me. Were it not for scholarships, I never would have been able to attend Baylor; my back-up plans included a local community college and another university about 90 miles down I-35. Thankfully, I was offered scholarships to BU, and I am today a proud Baylor Bear. And I’m not the only one; click here to read more stories from Baylor students and alumni about how scholarships and the Baylor experience they afforded have impacted not only individual lives but the world. Then, click here to share your own story.

Starr and his wife, Alice, are putting their money where their mouth is; the couple have already donated $100,000 to the initiative. Regent Bob Beauchamp and his wife, Laura (neither a graduate of Baylor, but the proud parents of two Bears), and Regent Richard Willis and his wife, Karen (both Baylor alumni), have also stepped forward with significant gifts.

Will you join them? Every gift matters, and every gift counts; regardless of size, it will make a difference to Baylor students today and long into the future. For more on “How Extraordinary the Stories: The President’s Scholarship Initiative” or to show your support, visit baylor.edu/nation.

Sic ’em, Bears, on behalf of today’s students and those yet to come!