The Power of Scholarships Through One Day. One KU.
Scholarships are the most direct way to benefit KU students, fueling access and success.
Scholarships help make a high-quality education possible for more University of Kansas students and launch them on their professional career paths with less debt. Currently, 32% of KU students receive private scholarships and 50% take out loans to cover their education.
KU aims to bridge the gap for students who are intellectually prepared to be successful but cannot afford the rising costs of higher education. Ultimately, the goal is to help more students afford a KU education by increasing the number and amount of scholarships. KU’s 2023 freshman class broke records for its size. With more enrollment growth expected, even more students will need financial support. Scholarships are the most direct way to benefit students, with private support going to several scholarship categories:
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Students with financial need
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Students with academic merit
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Students who are the first in their families to attend college
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Students from donor-selected geographic areas
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Students pursuing specific fields of study
Students are the heart of KU. Since our first giving day in 2018, we have focused on student support opportunities. The need for scholarships is great and spans the entire university. A few of the many scholarship initiatives for this year’s One Day. One KU. 24-hour giving day, on Wednesday, March 6, are highlighted below. To explore more One Day. One KU. priorities, visit ku.edu/onedayoneku.
KU School of Social Welfare
The KU School of Social Welfare’s new practicum scholarship fund will support students as they gain real-world experience. A practicum is a vital part of future social workers’ education at KU, giving the next generation of mental health counselors, crisis care workers, and child advocates the experiences that will prepare them for meaningful, productive careers. However, many practicum placements are not paid and can put a financial strain on students as they take the first steps in their social welfare professions.
Practicums not only take a significant investment of a student’s time but can also require additional expenses, including professional clothing, professional development training, childcare for those who are parents, as well as travel expenses. With this year’s One Day. One KU. giving day, the School of Social Welfare is establishing a new scholarship fund to support students during their practicum — one of several scholarships donors can choose to contribute toward as part of the annual campaign.
For social welfare students, practicum sites include nonprofits, behavioral health centers, child welfare offices, schools, hospitals, clinics and other organizations. The new practicum scholarship will help students cover some of the costs they typically bear on their own to participate in a practicum. Offsetting those costs with a scholarship gives students foundational support so they can focus on learning instead of worrying about expenses.
KU School of Nursing
The country is facing a nursing shortage, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimating that about 193,000 new registered nurses will be needed annually until 2032. The KU School of Nursing provides a top-tier nursing education, doing its part to help meet this pressing need. But nursing is also an expensive degree to undertake, making scholarships crucial to encouraging more nursing students.
Nursing scholarships support students so they can go on to meet the country’s need for more expert nursing care. Donations made during last year’s One Day. One KU. giving day allowed the KU School of Nursing to award more than $1 million in scholarships across all academic levels for the 2023 academic year. Donations this year will continue that effort, ensuring that more students can afford to become nurses.
Donations can also be made to the school’s Salina Campus in central Kansas, supporting nursing students who seek to practice in rural areas and directly addressing the critical shortage of nursing care in Kansas. Additionally, contributions to the Kansas Nursing Workforce Center will help create a one-stop shop for data about the Kansas nursing workforce. The database will answer important questions about the value of nursing, nursing supply and demand and impact to care.
On our campuses today, students are learning how to navigate an increasingly complex global society and preparing to solve the challenges of the future. Scholarships are essential to student access and success across the university. No matter where scholarship support is directed at KU, these resources help students create a bright future — for themselves and for us all.
Please join us on March 6, 2024, for the seventh annual One Day. One KU. Compete the form below to receive updates about the remarkable impacts of KU's annual day of giving.
*Your information will not be used for anything other than KU Endowment initiatives.