Three students walk across campus.
MONACA — For Katelyn Hauser, scholarships are a vital part of being able to attend Penn State Beaver.
Katelyn, a second-year student who is majoring in business management and marketing, said her family income is too high to qualify for financial aid, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t still need financial help to pay for school.
“I am paying for my college education out of pocket. To compensate for that I work at the local Chick-fil-A as a manager,” Katelyn said, adding that scholarships are the reason she’s able to further her education.
Katelyn, a recipient of the Penn State Advisory Board Scholarship, said support from scholarship donors has been a financial relief “and made me feel like I belong in the Penn State community.”
Katelyn and other scholarship recipients were invited to a March 22 luncheon to meet with the donors who fund campus scholarships.
Katelyn said she’s happy to get a chance to express her gratitude to the scholarship donors. “Receiving this scholarship means a lot to me,” she said.
Katelyn is just one of more than 80 students who are receiving scholarships this year as a result of the generous contributions of Penn State Beaver supporters. This year, the Beaver campus awarded over $419,000 in scholarships because of the donors.
“It’s inspiring,” Colleen Sherman, director of alumni relations and development, said. “These are all dollars that the scholarship representatives have made possible for our students. We wouldn’t have that $419,000 to give to our students if the donors had not put their hard work into giving to the campus.”
Sherman said she knows scholarships can be a relief to students who are worried about the debt they are building in school.
Relief is the exact word used by Julia Belcher, a third-year student studying business management and marketing. She said school can be very stressful and getting help in the form of scholarships makes it easier and more manageable because she can spend more time focusing on her schoolwork rather than having to work more hours to pay for school.
“It’s a big relief,” Julia said. “I’m thankful to the donors who help. It really does not go unnoticed.”
The scholarships awarded to students include the Lincoln Learning Solutions Open Doors Scholarship, the John and Magdalen Hertneky Memorial Scholarship, the Aliquippa Wolves Scholarship, the James V. and Agnes Gray Trustee Scholarship, the Styropek Beaver Valley Plant Scholarship, the Chancellor Gary B. Keefer Endowment, the Scott Noxon Scholarship, the Scott Noxon LGBTQA Scholarship, the Monaca Wolves Scholarship, the Penn State Alumni Association Trustee Scholarship, the Penn State Advisory Board Scholarship, the Thomas Gilchrist Scholarship, the Michael Baker Engineering Scholarship, the Richard and Margaret Shaw Scholarship, the Richard Shaw Endowed Scholarship, the Diana Patterson Open Doors Scholarship, and the Rochester Wolves Scholarship.