Skip to main content

Scholarships available for non-traditional WVU students through Bernard Osher Foundation endowment

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

Download full-size

Non-traditional-aged, undergraduate West Virginia University students have the opportunity to receive scholarship funding through the Osher Reentry Scholarship Program, supported by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

In 2011, the Bernard Osher Foundation began supporting the scholarship program with annual grants of $50,000. Three years later, WVU received a $1 million grant from the Foundation, creating an endowed scholarship program.

Students, ages 25 to 50 seeking to resume their studies and complete a baccalaureate degree after a cumulative interruption in their education of five or more years, may receive funding through the scholarship. Individuals may use the scholarship for tuition and fees at WVU, WVU Tech or Potomac State College. Recipients may receive a scholarship of up to $5,000 and are required to maintain a 2.5 grade point average in order to apply for a scholarship renewal.

“As a program of the Bernard Osher Foundation, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is pleased to be able to encourage and support older undergraduate students in their pursuit of higher education with the help of this unique scholarship,” said Jascenna Haislet, director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at WVU.

Seven WVU students received scholarships in 2016, and 30 scholarships have been awarded since the program began at WVU in 2011.

To apply, applicants must complete an application, write two short essays, and provide a résumé. Applications for the 2017-2018 academic year will be accepted beginning March 1

Students interested in applying can visit the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at WVU website, at http://www.olliatwvu.org/ and selecting the scholarships tab. Or, visit the WVU Financial Aid website at http://financialaid.wvu.edu/aid-and-scholarships/scholarships and select the Osher Reentry Scholarship tab.

The Bernard Osher Foundation, headquartered in San Francisco, was founded in 1977 by Bernard Osher, a respected businessman and community leader. The foundation seeks to improve the quality of life through support for lifelong learning, higher education, integrative medicine, and the arts. Through post-secondary scholarship funding to colleges and universities across the nation, the Foundation focuses special attention on reentry students, typically aged 25-50.

-WVU-

hk/02/14/2017

CONTACT: Bill Nevin, WVU Foundation
304-284-4056, wnevin@wvuf.org

Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.