Opportunity

Furman is bursting with opportunities.  We want to enhance the university’s already rich learning environment, increase experiential learning options, and deepen international understanding and environmental stewardship.  Yet all of these goals depend upon the opportunity we provide students from across the country and throughout the world to enroll.  Many young men and women who would excel at Furman cannot attend because of inadequate financial aid.

The opportunity to attend Furman is often constrained by money.  Of the $29 million in financial aid awarded annually, only $8 million is supported by the endowment and the gifts of alumni and friends. The rest--$21 million--must be provided by the annual operating budget, most of which is funded by tuition income.

Proven scholarship programs such as Furman Partners, which pairs students with the donors who fund their scholarships, enable students to attend Furman who otherwise would not be able to enroll.  Donors to the Partners program have discovered that their giving provides reciprocal benefits: “Participating in the Partners program has been a life-changing experience,” says Tom Farmer ’50. “The young people I have come to know through my scholarship donations have brought incredible joy to my life, and it does me a lot of good to see them pursuing their goals in college. I’m glad to be a part of their lives — I keep in touch during the year and always look forward to hearing from each of them.”

If Furman had the resources to meet the full financial need of all eligible students, the university would join the ranks of the nation’s finest colleges and universities. 

Division-I intercollegiate athletics has been a very significant and distinctive program at Furman over the years. The university boasts the best overall performance in Division I athletics of any national liberal arts college. Because Furman competes in Division I, the athletics department is able to attract high performing students who are also high performing athletes who want to compete at the highest level. Increasing endowed scholarship support for athletics will ensure that Furman will have continued success on the field as well as in the classroom.

Furman wants all young people, regardless of their circumstances, to reach their potential.  Through the Bridges to a Brighter Future program, Furman has paved a road to higher education for conscientious high school students whose potential outdistances their resources. The Bridges program, founded in 1997, provides a summer college preparatory experience for dozens of low-income Greenville County high-school students (grades 9-12) each year, widening their horizons and exciting their aspirations for a brighter future. Since 1999, 126 students have graduated from the Bridges program, all of whom went on to earn their high school diploma. No similar program in the nation has a better record of achievement.