Every student who earns a place at Bucknell should have the opportunity to say yes. Financial circumstances should never stand between a student and the education they have worked to earn. By meeting 100% of demonstrated need and eliminating loans for those earning under $150,000, we can give families a clear offer and make sure the students who will shape our future can choose Bucknell.”

Kevin Mathes ’07, Vice President of Enrollment Management & Dean of Admissions

The Vision

Before a family asks whether Bucknell is the right fit, they ask a harder question: “Can we make this work?” For generations, Bucknellians have made sure the answer is yes, and recent investments are already changing who enrolls. 

Yet today, Bucknell meets full demonstrated need for only about one in four students. Closing that gap is essential to Bucknell’s future. By investing in endowed, need-based scholarships, we can take cost off the table so students choose Bucknell based on fit — not finances.

The Challenge

Financial concerns are now the leading reason admitted students choose another institution. For many families — especially middle-income families — cost decides the question before fit ever enters the conversation. Peer institutions can offer $10,000 to $15,000 or more in additional scholarship support annually, while concerns about borrowing add another layer of uncertainty. 

The numbers families see: a cost of attendance of $91,880, against an average need-based package of $58,500. Expanding endowed need-based scholarship closes that distance, so a student’s yes depends on what they have earned, not on what their family can borrow. 

The Solution

Bucknell has the opportunity to move from meeting 93% of demonstrated need to meeting 100% for every admitted student. Additional investment in endowed scholarships would make that possible while eliminating loans from financial aid packages for families earning under $150,000. 

Together, these commitments would give families a clear offer they can act on, strengthen Bucknell’s ability to compete for exceptional students, and open Bucknell to talented students from every background and every circumstance. Recent investments have already increased first-generation representation by 10% and Pell-eligible enrollment from 8% to 13% — proof that when cost comes off the table, more exceptional students say yes.

We are establishing a durable model of financial support that accounts for changing family circumstances and rising costs, ensuring students can plan with confidence and remain supported throughout their Bucknell education. This will strengthen our ability to attract an exceptional student body.

For Vincent Torres ’27, a first-generation student from San Antonio, Texas, attending college depended on one thing: affordability. Despite graduating as his high school’s valedictorian, he knew he would need significant financial support to make a Bucknell education possible.

Through the Gamgort Gateway Scholars Program — which provides need-based aid to first-generation students — and the Freeman College of Management Merit Scholarship, Torres found a path to Bucknell. For Torres, donor support meant more than just paying tuition. It gave him the chance to pursue opportunities he didn’t think were possible, opening doors to a semester in London, a passion for accounting and a competitive internship with Kearney & Company — where he’ll return after graduation as a full-time audit associate. 

Be the bridge for tomorrow’s bucknellians

For generations, Bucknellians have made it possible for students to say yes. An endowed, need-based scholarship does the same for a student you may never meet, every year, for as long as Bucknell endures. By endowing scholarships and helping eliminate student loans, you make sure that what a student has earned — not what a family can borrow — decides who becomes a Bucknellian. 

Funding Opportunities

• Full Cost of Attendance Scholarship: $2.25 million
  • Funds a need-based scholarship covering full cost of attendance for one student every year, in perpetuity
• Full Tuition Scholarship: $1.75 million
  • Funds a full-tuition need-based scholarship for one student every year, in perpetuity
• Partial Need-based Scholarship with a preference: $200,000
  • Funds a partial need-based scholarship with one preference for a specific major or large regional area
• Partial Need-based Scholarship: $150,000
  • Funds a partial need-based scholarship with a preference for a specific college
• Partial Flexible Scholarship: $100,000 
  • Provides a partial scholarship that enables Admissions to recruit the best students.
• Immediate Need-based Scholarship: $40,000 over four years
  • Immediately funds a partial need-based scholarship for a student for four years