The Skyward Scholar Alumni Endowment Award was established to empower first-generation college students to continue their academic journey at Utah State University School of Graduate Studies. This scholarship provides financial support as they advance their education and pursue their academic goals.
Skyward Scholar recipients will receive half-tuition and a $500 living stipend during their first two-semesters at Utah State University.
Funded by Aggie Graduate School Alumni, USU School of Graduate Studies, and individual donors.
This scholarship will begin awarding for the 2026/27 academic school year.
Skyward Scholars Receive
Ways to Give
Looking for alternative ways to give and support graduate students at Utah State University? Please contact Ryan McLane at ryan.mclane@usu.edu.
Your gift will be used only for the above-stated purpose if the required minimum endowment level of $25,000 is met by December 31, 2029. If not met, the gift will be considered expendable towards the stated purpose.
The Endowment will exist in perpetuity. If circumstances arise that render the stated purpose of the Endowment (as set forth herein) illegal, impractical, impossible, or wasteful (e.g., a change in law, the elimination of a USU program, position, or course of study, the persistent unavailability of scholarship recipients that meet the criteria, etc.); then, as set forth in this Solicitation, under such circumstances and in keeping with Utah Code 51-8-501(1), USU may designate a new purpose and/or scholarship selection criteria for the Endowment. Any such new purpose shall be defined by USU’s President and the Senior Vice Provost of Graduate Studies.
The Endowment shall be deposited and invested by the Board of Trustees of USU, through the USU Investment Advisory Committee in accordance with USU’s investment policy. The USU Foundation is the legal entity designated by USU to receive charitable gifts in support of its academic mission.
Distributions from the Endowment shall be governed by USU’s Endowment Spending Policy. The spending policy calls for an annual distribution up to 5% (currently set at 4%) of the value of the endowment account to be expended per the gift agreement. An additional 1.5% of the endowment value shall be used to fund the administration of the endowment and USU advancement efforts. All additional gains shall be retained as appreciation and invested along with the corpus to grow the value of the Endowment over time.
By letter dated May 21, 2008, the Internal Revenue Service has declared the USU Foundation (federal tax identification number 87-0627128), to be a duly qualified charitable organization under section 501(c)(3) and also an organization described in sections 509(a)(1) and 170(b)(1)(A)(iv) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Foundation is a duly chartered active Utah nonprofit corporation, under the provision of Utah Code, Title 16, Chapter 6a.
