Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Make a sustaining gift today to support local journalism!

$10 Million Gift Given To UNH For In-State Student Scholarships

Via UNH Website

A long-time benefactor to the University of New Hampshire is giving the school $10 million in scholarship support to students from the state.

The gift, announced Monday, is from Harvard alum and Tuftonboro resident Dana Hamel and will increase the endowment of the already existing Hamel Scholars fund. It will mean the fund has $17 million dedicated to scholarships for New Hampshire students who show academic excellence, leadership and community involvement. The school hopes the money will help make the school more competitive with high-performing students.

The scholarships, which go to 40 to 50 students a year, vary in their value. With this contribution, the most generous grants will come close to paying full tuition.

“One of the things that you can imagine happens when you’re a really top student is you have a number of places that are able to offer you aid, and we really haven’t been able to compete at the highest levels of some of those offers,” says Debbie Dutton, Vice President for Advancement at UNH.

Dana Hamel, who co-founded a consumer products company in New Jersey, first seeded the Hamel Scholars fund in 2007 with a $5 million dollar donation. The Hamels also donated money in 1996 to complete the Hamel Student Recreation Center and helped endow the Hamel Center for Undergraduate Research in 2000.

Related Content

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.