“You couldn't pick a worse time to graduate,” he said. “We hope we won't have to reduce the number of scholarships very much.”
In fact, the UM Foundation recently launched a campaign to raise $1.2 million to ensure that a large number of scholarships won't disappear next fall. A thousand UM students are at risk of losing scholarships in the 2009-2010 school year.
As long as the 20-year-old Stevensville native worked hard and earned good grades, that four-year renewable scholarship would always be available. At least that was his assumption two years ago when he started college. Now Bloom is beginning to wonder - and worry.
Wall Street, it appears, is in the driver's seat.
“I've never thought about losing my scholarship because there's not enough money,” said Bloom.
Many students may face that same harsh reality.
Of the UM Foundation's 535 endowed scholarships, 70 percent - or 375 awards - are in trouble.
At the close of the last fiscal report, released June 30, UM's investment portfolio showed a loss of 6.6 percent - or $7.9 million. Since then, things have only gotten worse.
Most of the endowed private scholarships range from $500 to $2,000 a semester, said Mark Armstrong, the UM Foundation's director of marketing and communications. The average tuition cost for an in-state student is about $5,000 annually.
University officials will look at the return on the investments at the end of January to determine the number of scholarships available to students in the fall of 2009. That's why a quick influx of cash is needed sooner rather than later.
Debbie Doyle McWhinney, CEO and president of the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, is co-chairwoman of the fundraising effort called “1,000 Promises to Keep.” Though some economists have predicted the economic situation will worsen before it gets better, McWhinney remains optimistic that things can't get much worse.
“All of the bad news has been priced into the market,” she said.
To McWhinney, the foundation's goal is specific and the need is great.
“This is too many kids not to do something,” she said. “It'll certainly be a challenge, but UM donors are so generous and committed to students who go there. This is a unique situation and we want to keep these kids in school.”
Of the financial assistance provided to undergraduate students, about 12 percent is in the form of scholarships, which students don't have to pay back. Seventeen percent is federal Pell Grants, which go to the neediest students. They don't have to pay those back, either.
Tuition waivers, which are awarded to veterans, some Native Americans, senior citizens and some athletes, account for 5 percent of the school's financial assistance. Work-study is about
2 percent.
Sixty-four percent of the $100 million offered in financial assistance to UM students annually is through loans. Even if every single scholarship program at UM is lost, there would still be lots of financial assistance available to students, Hanson said.
Plus, the foundation has done an excellent job in the past 10 years increasing the number of scholarships available to students, he said. So even if some fall by the wayside, it's likely there will still be more than there were a decade ago.
The UM Foundation's fundraiser will run through the end of January. Students will be notified in April whether their scholarships are still available to them in the upcoming fall semester.
The deadline for new students to apply for UM scholarships is Dec. 31. For returning students, the deadline is Feb. 1. Scholarships are distributed based on overall academic performance such as grades, test scores and community service. The criteria for scholarships vary greatly.
“I'm hopeful things will change between January and March,” Hanson said. “We'll award scholarship to the extent we are able.”
Bloom is also hopeful things will start to look brighter for students. If his scholarships went away, he doesn't know what he'd do.
“My dad is in the construction business and they've been hurting financially. So, I wouldn't ask for help from my parents. I work at Outback Steak House three nights a week ... ,” said Bloom, his voice trailing off. “It's so important to me having that scholarship.”
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