UConn scholarship fundraising takes a leap

The University of Connecticut’s chief fundraising arm is on a roll, and many more students will get help paying for college as a result.

“Hundreds of additional students will be supported,” said Josh Newton, the president of the UConn Foundation.

The foundation raised $81.1 million in donations in the 2013-2014 fiscal year, a $17.5 million boost, 0r 27.5 percent, over the previous fiscal year.

It is “the highest level of giving to the University in the 50-year history of the UConn Foundation,” says the organization’s annual report.

The momentum has continued into this school year. “It has been a strong first quarter,” the foundation informed UConn’s Board of Trustees Wednesday. The foundation has raised $8.4 million more so far this fiscal year than at the same time last year.

When lawmakers last year promised UConn millions more in state funding over the next decade to increase enrollment in science, technology and math majors, the UConn Foundation promised to find additional financial aid to support the added students.

Starting in the 2017-18 school year, the foundation must provide an additional $1.8 million in scholarships each year — a sizable increase over the $8.8 million the foundation spent last school year. By 2024, the foundation is expected to increase the amount it spends on financial aid by $5 million a year.

This aid is in addition to that set aside from UConn tuition dollars.