The Penn State Hershey College of Medicine received $1 million from the Donald B. and Dorothy L. Stabler Foundation in Harrisburg to create an endowed scholarship.
The gift enables a scholarship to be offered for a student to attend four years of medical school, Associate Vice President for Medical Center Development and Chief Development Officer Kristen Rozansky said. Once that student graduates, another student will be awarded with the scholarship for four years, Rozansky said.
The actual money of an endowed donation remains untouched, but the interest earned from the money is given in scholarship.
The student chosen requires significant credentials for medical school, Associate Dean for College of Medicine Admission and Professor of Medicine Dwight Davis said. The college will look at past achievements, then consider the background information of merit and financial need of the student, Davis said.
By the nature of the requirements to receive the scholarship, it will be awarded to a present medical student or an incoming medical student, Davis said.
The scholarship could be awarded within the coming academic year, Rozansky said.
The document between the foundation and the university confirming the commitment to the financial intent is processing and should be approved next month, Rozansky said.
Many students leave medical school with about $187,000 in debt from accumulated loans, Davis said. The college does have other scholarship opportunities, but because the medical school is young, additional support is encouraging, Davis said.
With this contribution, the College of Medicine has $12 million of scholarship endowment, according to a Penn State Live press release.
“We are extremely fortunate the Stabler Foundation decided to give us this gift,” Davis said.
Penn State student Andy Rogers said he is planning on going to medical school, adding that scholarship opportunities such as this “make medical school that more feasible.”
Rogers (senior-biological engineer) said he read that it takes around 20 years to pay off loans from medical school.
The College of Medicine approached the foundation in October 2012 with the proposal of the scholarship opportunity, Rozansky said.
Scholarship opportunities encourage enrollment for the College of Medicine, Davis said.
The foundation and the college have a longtime partnership, and the foundation has made other contributions, including $5 million. Including this $1 million donation, the Stabler Foundation gifted Penn State Hershey more than $6.5 million throughout the years, according to the Penn State Live press release.
The gift was approved in November 2012, and the foundation sent a check in December 2012, Rozansky said.
The Stabler Foundation declined to comment.
