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Endowments & Scholarships

Endowments and scholarships provide opportunities that were previously out of reach for many UWF students. Numerous scholarships have been established by individuals, groups and businesses through charitable contributions to the university. When you fund a scholarship, you make a profound difference for individual students and for the lives they touch as UWF graduates.


Endowment FAQs

Endowments are crucial to a university’s continued success because of their longevity. The greatness of a regional comprehensive university lies not only in the quality of the education it provides, but in its responsiveness to the region it services, this cannot be achieved alone, but instead relies on shared dreams. We ask you to share in this dream by providing a gift of support that will help our students, faculty and programs.

Endowment dollars enable us to sustain growth and increase our reputation for quality. As well as successfully compete in the higher education marketplace to attract and retain a talented and diverse student body. Need-and talent-based scholarships to support students within all academic programs are critical to UWF’s future and can truly change the lives of students and, in return, our community.

Endowed funds differ from others in that they are the gift that keeps giving. Instead of the entire amount of the gift being spent outright, the gift is invested. Each year, a portion of the income earned is spent while the remainder is reinvested. An endowment is a perpetual gift because only the spendable income is used immediately to support the university, while the principal grows continuously.

Development staff will work with donors to establish guidelines for their scholarship endowment to assure that their wishes are met through an endowment agreement. These guidelines can be personalized to recognize the unique interests and intent of each gift as well as create the opportunity to name the endowment after you, in honor of your family, or in memory of someone special.

At a minimum, long-term rates of return should be equal to an amount sufficient to maintain the purchasing power of these assets and provide necessary capital to fund the foundation’s spending policy. As such, the desired minimum rate of return is equal to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 400 basis points (3.5%) for spending, plus an additional 200 basis point (2%) on an annualized basis. The overall minimum rate of return is equal to CPI plus 600 basis points (6%). For example, if the average rate of return is expected to be 8% and the allocation for spending and administrative were 6%, the remaining 2% in earnings will build the endowment.

See the UWF Foundation Investment Policy for more information.

Considered one of the sources of funding with the most impact, endowments enable the university to support excellent students, teachers, and programs by providing a steady and permanent source of income. This steady stream of funding provides the assurance the university needs to recruit and retain the best and brightest students and faculty and provide access to the most advanced education possible.

It is easy to establish an endowment at the University of West Florida. Our development professionals will guide you through this process. Endowed funds may be created with a minimum of $25,000* payable over 5 years, or through a future gift (a bequest) from your estate. Consult the Office of Development at 850.474.2758 or development@uwf.edu for details.

Development staff will work with you to establish guidelines for your endowment to assure that your wishes serving the needs of the university are met. These guidelines can be personalized to recognize the unique interests and intent of each gift as well as create the opportunity to name the endowment after you, in honor of your family, or in memory of someone special.

Scholarships

Scholarship gifts offer transformational opportunities to today's students, tomorrow's leaders. To make a gift to an existing scholarship, visit Give to UWF. You can search for scholarships by key word, or you can view scholarships by area of interest. To establish a named scholarship of your own, please see the guidelines below. Thank you for your interest in supporting UWF students.

The minimum amount of gifts to establish an annual named scholarship is $5,000 and may be paid over a five year period, which would provide term support for students. Once funds are awarded, this scholarship would no longer exist. Selection criteria for scholarships may be financial or merit based as well as restricted to a particular academic field of study.

The minimum amount of gifts to establish an endowed scholarship is $25,000, which may be made over a five year period. These scholarships are awarded from the earnings and the principal is invested in perpetuity. Once the minimum gifts are received in the UWF Foundation, they must be in place for a one year period prior to the first award being made.