Alumni Scholarships General Fund

Alumni Giving Back

High-performing individuals with remarkable leadership skills are prime candidates to be offered spots in the nation’s top institutions. But just because these students are offered admission does not mean they can afford to attend. A shifting economy and declining state support create the need for financial assistance for students. Tuition and living costs are rising at an unprecedented pace around the country. UCLA is no exception.

Your gift to the Alumni Scholarships General Fund will help UCLA compete with financial packages offered by other institutions to attract the most promising students—students like Fiona Harlan Buzzard ‘20.

Harlan Buzzard is a self-sufficient, determined individual. She grew up in the heart of Los Padres National Forest in Big Sur, where she learned how to grow and raise her own food, cut firewood, and at times had to evacuate her home during wildfires. She also commuted up to 800 miles weekly to pursue her education, including Advanced Placement courses, and take part in club volleyball. Despite the fact that she comes from a low-income background and a school that was not set-up to prepare students for college, she still strives to be first.  Not only to be first of her family to attend college but also one of the first from her small hometown to graduate from a four-year university.

So when she received acceptance to UCLA, Harlan Buzzard knew she could not turn it down. But the cost to attend was a steep barrier to overcome. With the support of the Gold Shield Scholarship, a subsidiary of the Alumni Scholarship Program, she is able to attend UCLA and focus on her studies and other educational opportunities without having to worry about getting by financially.

Your gift to the Alumni Scholarships General Fund helps students like Harlan Buzzard. And when you give to this fund, you join the UCLA Alumni Association’s oldest continuous program. In 1936, while the U.S. still struggled with the Great Depression, recent UCLA graduates made a financial commitment to those who would follow them. They bestowed two UCLA Alumni Scholarships of $150 each—approximately equivalent to $12,000 today. The Gold Shield Scholarship is one of the original 1930s funds.

Although a lot has changed since the Alumni Scholarships program began, the collective belief that a new generation of Bruins benefit when loyal alumni and dedicated donors come together remains.

“As supporters of the UCLA Alumni Scholarships program, the greatest reward we receive is knowing that we are encouraging highly capable students to excel in their educational endeavors at UCLA,” says Eric Juline ’69, M.S. ’70, one of more than 1,200 donors to the fund.