Full Speed to Full Need

Full Speed to Full Need

Campaign Priority | $85 Million

$91.2 million raised!

Make Lawrence accessible and affordable for all students.

In addition to scholarship support from Lawrence and contributions from their families, our students finance their education through student loans and wages earned from employment. Still, these financial resources are not enough, and students may require more loans to fund fully their educations at Lawrence. Jumpstarted in 2014 by a historic matching challenge totaling $30 million, Full Speed to Full Need is a bold move to make Lawrence accessible and affordable by meeting the full demonstrated financial need of every student. Increased financial aid will help our students graduate with less debt, increase the college’s four-year graduation rate, allow Lawrentians more time to focus on academics and more fully engage in the Lawrence experience. The initial gift and the response from the Lawrence community has been nothing less than a game changer. Approximately sixty percent of Lawrentians receive need-based financial aid; the average need is $26,000 annually per student (for domestic students applying for aid). Lawrence has been able to close the financial aid gap for a growing number of students.

The number of “Full Speed to Full Need” scholars has increased significantly, from 31 scholars in 2014 to 189 in 2020.

“Providing an education open to all has been central to the Lawrence community since our founding. We aim to support every Lawrentian to the level suggested by federal methodology. Full need scholarships will decrease student indebtedness, increase graduation rates, and free our students to fully participate in the Lawrence experience.”

MARK BURSTEIN

“That Lawrence is well on its way to becoming a full-need institution is an amazing story. They were clearly able to make their alumni and donors understand why this is important. It means not only was the college visionary and generous, but so were their donors. It’s impressive and transformative.”

Sarah Flanagan, vice president for government relations at the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in
Inside Higher Ed

“Entering a space occupied by Ivy League and other elite colleges with hefty endowments and socially conscious bona fides was a bold move for the small liberal arts college in Wisconsin.”

Inside Higher Ed

Support the Campaign

Everyone can Be the Light! for Lawrence University and the generations of Lawrentians to come. There are myriad ways to take part in this transformational campaign: GIVE to support vital campaign priorities, ATTEND a regional campaign event or other exciting alumni gatherings near you, and ENGAGE by volunteering as an Alumni Ambassador.

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