The Foundation Mrs. Newcombe created continues and extends her interest in scholarships but does not make grants directly to individual students. Colleges and universities receive grants from the Foundation for scholarship aid to women over the age of twenty-five who have earned at least sixty credits towards a bachelor’s degree. Each funded institution is responsible for selection of recipients and scholarship administration according to the Foundation's guidelines. Campus committees of counselors, faculty members and financial aid officers review applications, award scholarships and report to the Foundation. The Foundation values the partnerships established with Newcombe-funded institutions and encourages programs and initiatives that effectively serve mature women students through regular conferences with program coordinators and through the CWNF website.
Adult students now comprise a large portion of the enrollment at most colleges and universities, with a majority of these non-traditional students being mature women. In 1981, the Newcombe Foundation created scholarships for returning or second-career women who were seldom able to qualify for financial aid. While aid formulas have changed so that independent and part-time students have increased access to federal, state and institutional aid, available funds have not kept pace with educational costs. The major portion of financial aid now comes in the form of student loans, an especially discouraging factor to mature women students, who typically have family responsibilities. Newcombe Scholarships enable recipients to avoid excessive reliance on loans as they manage the costs of tuition, housing, and caring for family members.
The Foundation’s latest grants in support of this program totaled $677,500 for scholarships in the 2009-10 academic year at twenty-nine institutions, with an additional $165,500 offered as matching challenges to build Newcombe Funds at eight of these institutions.
Renewal grants for 2009-10:
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From its inception, the Foundation provided a total of $15 million in grants for Newcombe Scholarships for Mature Women Students at fifty-six colleges and universities. This is the largest of the Newcombe Scholarship programs in terms of money, lives affected and number of funded institutions.
The Newcombe-endowed scholarship funds that benefit mature women students at twenty-nine institutions reported a combined market value of more than $3.9 million as of fall 2009. Cumulatively, these funds have produced over $1 million in income for Newcombe Scholarships.
Colleges and Universities:
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