Endowment Gift Opportunities
Eminent Scholar Chair 1.2 million and up
An eminent scholar chair is established with a gift of 1.2 million or more to bring in a nationally recognized scholar in a designated field to the College of Law.
With a gift of 1.2 million, the College of Law applies to the State Board of Regents' Louisiana Education Quality Support Funds (LEQSF) for a match of $800,000.
The holder of the chair, selected after a national search, would focus his or her efforts on teaching/educational and research/scholarly activities, in which the teaching/educational focus would be pre-eminent. With the participation of external collaborators, the chair holder would conduct academic research related to the designated field and would disseminate findings in academic journals and in presentations to the academic community and public.
An eminent scholar chair at the College of Law would bring a superior level of expertise in a specific subject to the College of Law, its students, the university community, as well as the community of New Orleans.
The chair holder would be expected to provide academic leadership in the College of Law in the designated field and to create a visible and prestigious public interdisciplinary forum. The chair works to provide collaborative opportunities both inside and outside the university for students and other experts in the field. It is expected that a chair holder would provide leadership in the three traditional areas of academic responsibility: teaching, research and service.
Eminent scholar chairs significantly help Loyola to compete on the national level and greatly helps to increase our national ranking.
All references to the eminent scholar chair in official publications and on correspondences both internally and externally carry the official name of the chair. The donor is also recognized at the Investiture Ceremony where the selected chair is formally named. As with other major gifts to the College of Law donors are recognized in the College of Law’s Loyola Lawyer publication and also in the university’s Loyola Magazine Donor Honor Roll issue.
Distinguished Endowed Professorship in Law $60,000 and up
An endowed professorship is established with a gift of $100,000 to distinguish an existing faculty member. It is possible, however, to endow a professorship with a gift of just $60,000. Using a matching gift from the State Board of Regents' Louisiana Education Quality Support Funds (LEQSF), you may make a gift of $60,000 that is currently matched with a $40,000 grant from the LEQSF for the total of $100,000. A professorship may be selected in an area of interest to you, as long as that interest area is presently being taught within the College of Law, or the professorship may be unrestricted so that a larger field of candidates can be considered.
An endowed professor may use the income from the $100,000 endowment, approximately five and a half percent or $5,500 annually, to enhance teaching, research or scholarship activities. He or she may use the funds to attend conferences or special activities at which his or her presence would bring recognition to Loyola College of Law. The funds may be used to visit other universities to produce scholarly works or to pay research assistants to help with the faculty member's scholarly pursuits.
In total the College of Law has 22 fully endowed professorships and 4 partially endowed professorships that are awaiting completion of pledges or matching funds from the Board of Regents.
All references to the endowed professor in official publications and on his or her correspondence both internally and externally, carry the professorship's name. Donors are also recognized at the Investiture Ceremony where the selected faculty member is formally named. As with other major gifts to the College of Law, donors are recognized in the College of Law’s Loyola Lawyer publication and also in the university’s Loyola Magazine Donor Honor Roll issue.
Endowed Scholarship $25,000 and up
A major recruiting and retention tool, endowed scholarships, serve to offset the College of Law tuition. For Fall 2007 tuition for incoming students is projected at $31,592 and $21,732 for part-time students plus fees. Approximately 14.7 million of the College of Law’s $34.8 million endowment is restricted for scholarships. Our financial aid assistant director estimates that a student taking the full allowance for government subsidized and private lender loans borrows $20,500 per year. This still leaves a balance of $1,092 each year just to cover tuition and fees, not including books and living expenses. The result is that many students borrow up to a total of $50,892 by accessing other higher interest private or federal loans. Given an average of $40,000 in loans each year, a full-time day student will graduate with $120,000 in debt.
Based on an approximate five percent income from the endowment, a $25,000 endowment would produce about $1,250 annually in scholarship award(s). Similarly, a $35,000 endowment would produce about $1,750 and a $50,000 endowment would produce $2,500 annually in scholarship award(s). Given the magnitude of students’ debt loads, a $1,375 scholarship award may not seem to be making much of an impact. However, if you consider that this is potentially relieving the student from borrowing that same amount from the government or a private lender, which will in turn be compounded by interest over many years (currently at a combined average interest rate of 4.9%), this award does not make a significant difference for a student.
Criteria for scholarships could be need-based and/or merit-based, stipends for student research assistants, given to one student or a designated number of students per year, to follow one student throughout his/her career as long as they continue to meet the minimum criteria, at the discretion of the dean, or as a stipend award for books and expenses above and beyond a full scholarship to attract highly competitive applicants to enroll.
As a donor to an endowed scholarship, one would be recognized in the university’s Loyola Magazine Donor Honor Roll issue.
Your Gift to the College of Law
Gifts to the College of Law can be made in many ways including an outright gift of cash, a pledge or a gift of stock. For a total gift of $25,000 to $35,000, you can pledge payments over one to three years. For a total gift of $50,000 or more, you can pledge payments over one to five years. Certainly, the shorter the pledge term, the greater the growth for an endowed fund and also the sooner we have access to the funds to implement your gift.
