Help us help others
A gift directed to the College of the Liberal Arts makes it easier for us to provide a transformative liberal arts education to any diligent student who seeks it, strengthen our academic programs, broaden our portfolio of professional development experiences, and recruit and retain the leading scholars within the liberal arts disciplines.
Scroll down to learn more about donating to a specific fund.
Schools, Departments, and College-Level Programs
Gifts from alumni and friends to the college’s academic units provide much-needed support for students, faculty, and broader initiatives within those areas.
College-Level Centers and Institutes
The College of the Liberal Arts is home to numerous cross-disciplinary centers and institutes that promote scholarly collaboration, outreach, and student engagement. Support from alumni and friends allows these centers and institutes to bring their research and scholarship into the public domain, helping to inform practitioners and policy makers well beyond Penn State.
Scholarships
Scholarships help relieve the financial and emotional anxiety of students for whom a Penn State education may otherwise be out of reach.
This fund provides support to students registered as part-time, half-time, or full-time with at least one major in the College of the Liberal Arts. This scholarship is not endowed, so all contributions go directly to students.
Established in April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency scholarships are available to Liberal Arts undergraduate, graduate, and World Campus students who are experiencing unforeseen financial setbacks and demonstrate a need for temporary assistance. This scholarship is not endowed, so all contributions go directly to students.
Established in 1993 by the Liberal Arts Alumni Society Board of Directors, this endowed scholarship supports full-time Liberal Arts undergraduate students who have completed their second year.
Tyler Hoppe
Kara Stover
Cherish Graham
Igor Latsanych
Career-Readiness
To fully benefit from all a liberal arts education has to offer, students need to engage in internships, education abroad, research, conferences, and other experiences beyond the classroom. These experiences allow students to step out of their comfort zones, cultivate intangible skills, and apply what they have learned in the classroom in real-world settings.
These kinds of opportunities can be out of reach for many students—especially those from lower-income families. With the help of alumni and friends, the college can provide supplemental funding for out-of-classroom experiences that many students simply cannot afford.
In addition to supporting the Career Enrichment Network’s mentoring, career development, and curriculum development programs, the Liberal Arts Edge Fund also supports undergraduate students who are completing internships, global experiences, research, or other out-of-classroom experiences.
This endowment supports the Chaiken Center for Student Success’ mission to provide resources, counseling services, programming, and support to Liberal Arts students.
Make a gift to the Chaiken Center for Student Success Endowment
This endowment provides recognition and financial support to outstanding undergraduate students enrolled or planning to enroll in the Paterno Fellows Program, an innovative program offered jointly by the College of the Liberal Arts and Schreyer Honors College that encourages students to challenge themselves academically and distinguish themselves in areas traditionally associated with the liberal arts.
Gifts to this fund give the Career Enrichment Network greater flexibility to support students seeking opportunities to engage in career, international, and professional development activities.
Established in 2001 by the Liberal Arts Alumni Society Board of Directors, this endowment provides Liberal Arts undergraduate students with support for internships, education abroad, and research.
Make a gift to the Alumni Society Undergraduate Enrichment Endowment
Launching in summer 2026, the College of the Liberal Arts Semester in Washington Program immerses undergraduates in Washington, D.C., combining coursework with full-time, for-credit internships and alumni mentorship.
Hunter Steach
Igor Latsanych
Noa Diggs
Emily Cotrufello
Sarah Paterno
Daniel Zahn
Graduate Education
Our ability to attract and retain outstanding graduate students is influenced greatly by our ability to provide fellowships, assistantships, and other financial support that make our programs attractive to them. Providing support that “frees” students to learn from and work alongside the leading faculty in their disciplines, conduct meaningful and influential research, share their research and network at professional conferences, and mentor undergraduates is a core ingredient in building a graduate program that is both nationally prominent and the birthplace of the leading scholars of tomorrow.
Gifts to this fund provide the Office of Research and Graduate Studies with unrestricted support for graduate education. Funds may be used by graduate students for research, conference travel, assistantships, and emergency support.
This endowment provides the Office of Research and Graduate Studies with funding for new initiatives, programs, and unrestricted support for graduate student scholarships and awards.
Faculty Excellence
World-class faculty are the cornerstone of any great college. They examine our past through a variety of lenses to help shape our present and create a better tomorrow for everyone, and they prepare future scholars to do the same. That is why recruiting and retaining faculty remains one of the college’s highest priorities—a priority that is more easily attainable with gifts from alumni and friends that support professorships, career advancement, innovative teaching approaches, and groundbreaking research endeavors.
The Penn State Fund for the College of the Liberal Arts provides the Office of the Dean with flexible support for new initiatives, faculty development, and programming and allows the dean to support the college’s most pressing needs.
Make a gift to The Penn State Fund for the College of the Liberal Arts
This endowment provides the Office of Research and Graduate Studies with funding to enrich faculty members in the humanities and social sciences.
Gifts to the Rock Ethics Institute support ethics research, interdisciplinary collaboration, development and delivery of ethics-related courses, and the promotion of ethical literacy and leadership at Penn State.
The Mathues Innovation Fund supports faculty research and education and provides funding for visiting faculty and support services for junior faculty development.
Jason Laine
Alicia Drais-Parrillo
David P. Barker
Kate Merkel-Hess
Gabeba Baderoon
Mark S. Morrisson
Want to talk to someone about your gift?
Lydell Sargeant, Senior Director of Development and Alumni Relations, will work closely and confidentially with you and your financial advisers to ensure that your gift achieves your individual goals and expresses your personal vision. You can contact Lydell by email at lrs197@psu.edu or by phone at 814-865-3173.
Gifts to the College of the Liberal Arts by check should be made payable to
The Pennsylvania State University and mailed to the following address:
College of the Liberal Arts Alumni Relations and Development
Attn: Lydell Sargeant
The Pennsylvania State University
13 Sparks Building
University Park, PA 16802-5200