Scholarship Fund


Alabama's independent colleges and universities rely heavily on philanthropic giving to make them competitive. At independent institutions, a significant portion of the cost of educating a student is covered by endowment earnings and private gifts. In 2004-05, independent colleges across the nation provided an estimated $12.1 billion in undergraduate student aid funding from their own resources. These billions of dollars in student aid ensure that all types of families will have access to a quality independent college education. The most recent national data in 2003-04 reveals that 86% of full-time dependent undergraduates at four-year independent institutions had all or part of the cost of their college education offset by some form of student aid. The average award per student was $15,900.

More than 24,000 students attend Alabama's independent four-year institutions each year. For these students, philanthropy from individuals, foundations, and corporations provides the difference that makes an Alabama independent college education both excellent and affordable. Independent and public colleges and universities enroll the same percentage of students with family incomes below $25,000(14 percent), and also educate almost the same proportion of minority students (30 percent at private colleges, 27 percent at the publics). Philanthropy to higher education is one of the most leveraged investments in Alabama's economic future.


Over the past ten years, AAICU raised and distributed more than $2.2 million dollars for scholarships to students attending our member schools. In addition, in 2005 alone our member schools provided more than $75 million dollars in direct student aid to their students. One hundred percent of the contributions to the AAICU Scholarship Fund are passed on to the students in the form of scholarship aid - there are no administrative costs deducted from any donation.

AAICU is a tax-exempt, nonprofit Alabama corporation. All contributions are tax- deductible in accordance with Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code.

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