The Gateway Scholarship Program, UC Merced's longstanding student-support initiative focused on empowering young people from the San Joaquin Valley, has received a significant infusion of funding, ensuring the scholarship's ability to help Merced-area students for generations to come.
A $9 million gift from an anonymous donor will establish the Gateway Scholarship Endowment Fund, providing scholarships to at least 36 incoming UC Merced first-year students every year. Among the fund's top priorities is increasing higher-education access and opportunities for students from the region, with preference given to individuals graduating from a high school in Merced.
The anonymous donor's sustained generosity to the Gateway Scholarship has empowered the program's development throughout the years, starting with undergraduate scholarships and including expanded support efforts that pair qualifying students, from as early as the ninth grade, with coordinators to help prepare them for the challenges of higher education. Gateway Scholars also continue to receive support services during their time on campus through the Calvin E. Bright Success Center.
"The Gateway Scholars Program has enabled countless students from Merced to pursue their personal, professional and academic goals, and now, with the establishment of the Gateway Scholarship Endowed Fund, future scholars wishing to remain in the San Joaquin Valley for their college education will have access to resources that help them thrive," said Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz. "This transformational gift truly empowers our university to foster social mobility throughout our region."
The philanthropic contribution to the Gateway Scholarship Program is one of several key milestone gifts that are advancing Boldly Forward, UC Merced's first comprehensive fundraising campaign, toward the ambitious goal to raise $200 million over the next decade. The prolific generosity of campus donors and friends has resulted in nearly $86.9 million in gifts and pledges since the campaign's launch last fall, with more than one-third raised during the 2022-23 fiscal year.