Alumni

The purpose of this fund is to provide recognition and financial assistance through a scholarship for outstanding active-duty military service members, veterans, and their dependents who are enrolled or planning to enroll at Penn State. This is a non-endowed scholarship, and all funds raised annually go directly to military-connected students each academic year. These scholarships benefit military students at all Penn State campuses, including World Campus. In particular, they benefit military students who demonstrate a need for funds to meet their necessary college expenses, or who are nontraditional students – including students who are returning to school after a period of employment or other activity, pursuing a degree in furtherance of a second career, or enrolled in ROTC. The fund owner is the Office of Government and Community Relations in coordination with Undergraduate Education and the Office of Veterans Affairs and Services.

Donations to this fund help sponsor free seats for active duty, Guard and Reserve military service members, veterans and their families, and for Gold Star families to Penn State’s annual Military Appreciation Football Game. Penn State has a longstanding and proud tradition of serving the men and women of our military, and our military appreciation events give our students, athletes, and fans a chance to honor those who have bravely served our country by dedicating a football game to them. The Seats for Servicemembers program honors the commitment and sacrifices of our service members, veterans, and their families, and it recognizes the sacrifices of Gold Star families by providing tickets, at no cost to them, to the annual Military Appreciation Football Game. Supporters, alumni, and business donations have graciously made this event possible since 2012, providing over 7,000 seats annually and making it the largest event of its kind in the Big 10. Fund owner is Penn State Athletics at University Park campus.

Donations to this fund will directly support the construction of the new Student Veteran Center (SVC) on the University Park campus. The SVC will create a dedicated student veteran space on campus and be the single point of entry to a full range of programs, services, and support for student veterans at Penn State. The SVC will function as the focal point for student veteran engagement and support on campus as well as provide space for adult learner- focused collaborative learning and a meeting place for student veteran organizations and support groups. Services provided in the SVC will include access to GI Bill® benefits, advising, counseling, tutoring, peer-to-peer mentoring and support, and career services, all in a welcoming environment. The SVC will create the environment required to foster peer-to-peer support and engagement that is crucial to the success of student veterans’ transition to college and Penn State’s supporting veteran programs. Fund owner is the Office of Veterans Affairs and Services with responsibility across all campuses.

Donations to this fund allow the Office of Veterans Programs (OVP) to host a number of veteran and military-affiliated programming opportunities on the University Park campus, including our Military Dependent Support Group, our Servicewomen’s Coffee Group, our Veterans Welcome Week seminar and programming, and our Veterans First-Year seminar. Donations also allow OVP to provide financial support for social and veterans awareness opportunities involving the veterans’ fraternity (Omega Delta Sigma) and Penn State University Student Veterans Organization (PSUVO). The fund owner is the Office of Veteran Programs at University Park.

Donations to this fund directly support programming and services to the student veteran community across all Penn State campuses. This a discretionary fund managed by the senior director of Veterans Affairs and Services (SDVAS) and is not tied to a specific program, unit, college, or campus location, allowing the senior director to allocate funding to support student veteran programming at the campuses where there is the greatest need. This flexible fund is designed to create opportunities to provide student veteran programs and services in a resource-constrained environment. While this fund is available to support all campuses, smaller campuses with limited student veteran community funding resources will benefit the most.