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Wall Street Woes Hurting College Scholarships

By Sarah Rohrs
Times-Herald Staff Writer

It's no surprise 401Ks and other investments have taken a beating in the stock market, but college scholarships also are getting slammed -- and just when more and
more students need them, officials said.
At Napa Valley College, investments have dropped 25 percent due to the stock market slump, said Sonia Wright, Napa Valley College Foundation executive director.
As a result, some 68 endowments out of nearly 180 were to give out awards of $99 or less -- far less than what is usually given, Wright said.
At the same time, Napa Valley College has seen a financial aid applications increase by one-fourth, said Jill Schrutz, Napa Valley College dean of financial aid.
Endowed scholarships are often called gifts that keep on giving, and one source of money students with financial needs turn to help pay for college.
The donor's initial financial gift is invested, and each year scholarships come from a portion of the amount that is invested.
Scholarships can be given in perpetuity because the bulk of the donation, or the capital, is continuously invested.
But Napa Valley College is certainly not alone in seeing low returns on investments on endowed scholarships.
Small returns have hurt colleges and universities of all shapes and sizes, said Tom Dunworth, California Maritime Academy Foundation executive director.
"In this situation, misery loves company and we're in good company," Dunworth said. "Nobody was immune."
Napa Valley College donor William Blanckenburg of Napa sent the college's foundation $200 after hearing it had to cut endowed scholarship awards due to low investment returns.
The scholarship from his endowment would have been about $450, Blanckenburg said. The additional money will give one student a $650 award, he said.
"I wanted it to be enough to mean something to the kid who gets it," Blanckenburg said. He also said he wanted to help out because the college means a lot to him, his family and to the community. One daughter and two grandchildren attended college there.
A foundation founder in 1968, Blanckenburg, 93, said he and his late wife Katherine created the endowed scholarship in 1970. His preference is for awards to go to students intent on transferring to a four-year university, preferably one in the University of California system.
At Vallejo's Calfiornia Maritime Academy, investments on endowed scholarships are down about one-third over previous years, Dunworth said.
As a result, the foundation is drawing from other alumni donations and money collected at various fundraisers, he said. The intent is to keep endowed scholarship amounts the same as previous years.
"We treasure the students who are with us," Dunworth said. "These are students we judge to be particularly hard-working and leaders in their class and who have a financial need."
Cal Maritime's endowed scholarships awards range from about $1,000 to $10,000, he said.
At Solano Community College, a foundation official said investments on endowed scholarships have also have taken a hit, but how much wouldn't be known until later this year.
The institution would have a better idea this summer how the low investments will impact scholarship amounts, said Dorothy Hawkes, Solano Community College Scholarship Foundation executive director.
Whether or not Solano College is seeing an increase in scholarship requests won't be known until this summer when applications come in, she said.

Wall Street Woes Hurting College Scholarships