Bob and Ellen Thompson, a pair of their 90s, are donating $121 million to expand a scholarship program at Bowling Green State University. However, there are strings attached to be certain that recipients earn a level.
According to the Conditions80% of supported students must graduate inside 4 years. Otherwise, the Ohio public school must cover the fee of every additional semester of study.
“The return on these children when they go out into the world is much higher than the return on your money.” Bob Thompson said in a Zoom interview from his home in Florida. Bowling Green “accepted the responsibility.”
The Thompson Scholars Program addresses one of the vital persistent problems in U.S. higher education: college completion. On average, only about half of scholars graduate inside six years, a recent study found. The longer they last, the dearer the course becomes. And when students drop out after taking out a loan, they find yourself with debt and no degree.
The Thompsons, who each graduated from Bowling Green, also demanded different conditions. The school must provide appropriate resources. Fellows proceed to cover some costs and are required to volunteer 20 hours every year during their fellowship.
Students are also required to attend mentoring sessions to debate their study and profession options. That helped Steve Iwanek stay the course within the face of tragedy after he suffered an accident two years ago wherein a drunk driver injured him and killed a classmate as they returned from a Cleveland Guardians baseball game. When his phone was recovered, he noticed that certainly one of the primary messages waiting for him was from his Thompson Scholar coach.
“They really care personally about each student and are unique,” said Iwanek, a recent graduate who now works as a television reporter.
Support structures
This type of attention just isn’t universal in higher education. Strong mentorship could be helpful, and students also need clarity about work and profession options after graduation, said Elizabeth Bradley, president of Vassar College.
In a 2023 report, she and two colleagues found that the six-year graduation rate — the metric tracked by the U.S. Department of Education — averages just 51%. In the short term, it’s difficult to alter the explanations for the low rates, comparable to the support that some schools receive from their foundations. Private universities generally perform higher than public ones.
“It is important to have advising and support structures in place to help students persevere,” Bradley said.
Bowling Green, which is near Toledo and has a complete student population of about 19,000, has established an office with seven full-time employees to work with the Thompson Scholars. Freshmen who began this 12 months will receive $11,000 annually. The grant, split between the Thompsons and the varsity, covers about 75% of the tutoring and charges set throughout their academic years.
Students pay room, board and other costs. Her hottest majors are early childhood education, nursing and psychology. The average graduation rate in 4 years or less for Thompson Scholars is 89%.
Asphalt business
The Thompsons spent many years constructing an asphalt paving business in southern Michigan, which they sold in 1999 for greater than $420 million (on the time, they received widespread media attention for giving greater than $125 million to their employees). After graduating from Bowling Green, nonetheless, that they had little contact until they were invited to a football game the following 12 months between their alma mater and the University of Michigan (Bowling Green lost 42-7).
Their first pilot began a decade ago with 15 students and has been “tested” through the years, Bob Thompson said. The program grew to about 1,000 students this 12 months, and the brand new donation will allow the varsity so as to add one other 450 students.
While the donation is the most important in Bowling Green’s history, donations of $100 million or more have gotten less unusual, especially within the rarefied world of the wealthiest schools.
In recent years, the list of such contributions included $1.1 billion to Stanford University from enterprise capitalist John Doerr and $300 million to Harvard University from Citadel founder Ken Griffin.
This 12 months, Spelman College, the historically black college in Atlanta, receive a $100 million donation from a trustee. The Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York received $1 billion to maintain tuition free.
For Bowling Green, nonetheless, the Thompsons’ latest gift won’t last eternally. Another condition is that the university must use the scholarship money by 2035 as an alternative of putting it into its endowment.
The couple wanted the funds to be spent within the immediate future while maintaining a private relationship with school leaders comparable to President Rodney Rogers.
They decided to expand this system after recently seeing strong investment returns and selling two more firms, and are able to donate an extra $30 million when the outcomes are in. However, Ellen Thompson said they’re still maintaining a tally of their very own expenses.
“We haven’t changed our standard of living,” Ellen Thompson said. “I’m still clipping coupons.”
