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:

American University Arcadia University Bloomfield College Cedar Crest College Columbia University School of General Studies Fordham University Gannon University Georgian Court University Gwynedd-Mercy College Hunter College of CUNY Kean University La Salle University University of Maryland, Baltimore County University of Maryland, College Park

University of Maryland, University College Marywood University Misericordia University Moravian College Neumann University Rider University Rutgers University, Douglass Residential College University of Scranton St. Joseph's University University College The New School College of General Studies Towson University West Chester University Widener University

New grants for 2009-10:

Elizabethtown College Edward R. Murphy Center for Continuing Education and Distance Learning The University of Pennsylvania College of Liberal and Professional Studies Bread Upon the Waters Program

In addition, four previously funded institutions continue to provide Newcombe Scholarships from Newcombe-endowed scholarship funds:

Centenary College St. Peter’s College Ursinus College Wilson College

During 2008-09, the typical recipient of a Newcombe Scholarship for mature women was thirty-six years old and a good student with a 3.5 GPA. Sixty-five percent of Newcombe Scholars attended a community college prior to their current institution. Slightly more recipients were enrolled full-time (54%) than part-time (46%); the majority of recipients also worked full-time or part-time and volunteered in their communities. Newcombe Scholars carried an average cumulative loan of almost $25,000, with an average current-year educational loan of $8,000. Forty-two percent of Newcombe Scholars received additional institutional aid averaging $2,528 in 2008-09. Newcombe Scholarships ranged from $125 to $10,250 per semester, with an average award of $2,164.

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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