Creative Ways to Give

Endowed Scholarship Program

Over the years a number of alumni and friends have chosen to establish endowed scholarship funds, either by a gift during their lifetime or by a bequest in a will. The University administers the fund in accordance with the guidelines established by the donor. Scholarships are often designated for students based on their financial need. Other funds have been established for students in a particular major, or with special characteristics, such as children of missionary families.

Endowed funds are invested with professional managers at the direction of the University's Board of Trustees. Most endowed funds are held by the Common Fund, an investment pool made up exclusively of college and university endowment funds. The Common Fund is a nonprofit entity which has provided good returns in terms of growth and income for over 20 years. A description of this fund is available upon request.

In order to protect the value of these endowed funds, the Board of Trustees annually reviews and approves a "spending rule." This action sets the rate, currently projected to be 5.0 to 5.75 percent, at which the University may calculate the annual scholarship awards. To reduce the impact of swings in the value of the market, the University applies this spending rate against the five-year average value of the funds as of the most recent December 31 values.

These policies are designed to assure both stability in the income available for scholarships, and growth in the value of the fund which equals or exceeds the annual inflation rate.

John Brown University's Board of Trustees has voted to protect the "Historic Dollar Value" (HDV) of endowed scholarship gifts for short-term periods in which the actual market value of endowment investments would fall below the original value of the gift. The scholarship will be based on no less then the original amount of the gift, adjusted for five-year averaging.

List of current endowed and funded scholarships