(Buffalo, NY) — Empire State University received a $200,000 gift from an anonymous donor that enables the university to expand the donor’s existing scholarship fund for students in western New York. 

Established in 2014, the Western New York Part-Time Student Success Scholarship was created to enable overburdened full-time students to move to part-time study, and to assist current part-time students to successfully complete their studies. 

Recipients of the scholarship are matriculated undergraduates residing in Erie, Cattaraugus, or Niagara counties who are working while pursuing their degrees. Additional consideration is given to students with children. 

In reflecting on their inspiration for funding this scholarship, the donor said, “As a mentor at SUNY Empire, I was so impressed by the students I taught. Many of them are juggling jobs and childcare along with school. I also saw too many students who felt forced to study full-time to receive state and federal aid, even though they already had full-time jobs and children to raise. That’s essentially three full-time jobs, and it makes it a real struggle to keep up your grades. I’m hoping that this scholarship will allow students to take classes part-time, so that they can take only the number of courses that allows them to succeed at school and at home.”  

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