Scholarship Amount Strategy & History
Keeping Pace with College Costs
The Board of Directors annually updates this summary for our website to share our strategy and history relative to the scholarship amounts. Over the years, we have periodically increased the value of the scholarships. The reason for each increase has been to keep pace with rising college costs.
When the Board of Directors launched the Mel Douglass Fund in 2008, we set the scholarship amounts at $4,000 (delivered in four equal payments at one year intervals assuming academic progress) for the Mel Douglass Scholarship and one-time payments of $500 for the Honorable Mention Scholarships. When we began, each year we awarded the Mel Douglass Scholarship to one student and each year we also allowed for several Honorable Mention Scholarships to additional students, with the number depending on the caliber of the candidates.
After operating for several years with those scholarship amounts, we began to consider increases. In 2013, we increased the value of the Mel Douglass Scholarship to $6,000 and held the Honorable Mention Scholarship at $500. In 2017, we raised those amounts to $8,000 and $1,000 respectively. The basis for those increases was simply to address rising college costs. Thankfully, the ongoing generosity of our donors gave us the financial capability to deliver the increases.
As we made those increases, we continued to monitor data on college costs. We realized that, although we had periodically increased the value of the scholarships, our changes were not keeping pace with rising college costs as closely as we had intended. In 2018 we reached consensus on a strategy to target the value of the Mel Douglass Scholarship at approximately 10% of the cost of four years of college. We define college costs as tuition and required fees plus room and board at public four year institutions. Our primary source of data on college costs is publically published information from the College Board.
The basis for the 10% target is to strike a balance between a reward and perhaps too much of a reward. Since the scholarships are for volunteer community service, we want the amount awarded to be enough to truly help our winners with college expenses but not so much that it makes volunteering the primary way to pay for college. We want to recognize and reward students for their outstanding service but not award unreasonably large amounts for their admirable and selfless acts of volunteer service to others.
We are pleased that our strategy for establishing and maintaining scholarship amounts is now linked to actual market data. Applying that strategy in December 2018, we agreed to increase the Mel Douglass Scholarship to $10,000 and keep the Honorable Mention Scholarships at $1,000. In 2021, we increased the value of the Honorable Mention Scholarships to $1,500.
Moving forward we will continue to monitor external data and adjust the Mel Douglass Scholarship amount as necessary to align with our 10% strategy, assuming we have the resources to do so. In addition, we will periodically adjust the Honorable Mention Scholarship amount as appropriate. Our 10% strategy is subject to change. Each December, we review the strategy in light of relevant factors, such as our endowment and market data, and make changes as necessary.
Results of the December 2024 Review:
When the Board of Directors launched the Mel Douglass Fund in 2008, we set the scholarship amounts at $4,000 (delivered in four equal payments at one year intervals assuming academic progress) for the Mel Douglass Scholarship and one-time payments of $500 for the Honorable Mention Scholarships. When we began, each year we awarded the Mel Douglass Scholarship to one student and each year we also allowed for several Honorable Mention Scholarships to additional students, with the number depending on the caliber of the candidates.
After operating for several years with those scholarship amounts, we began to consider increases. In 2013, we increased the value of the Mel Douglass Scholarship to $6,000 and held the Honorable Mention Scholarship at $500. In 2017, we raised those amounts to $8,000 and $1,000 respectively. The basis for those increases was simply to address rising college costs. Thankfully, the ongoing generosity of our donors gave us the financial capability to deliver the increases.
As we made those increases, we continued to monitor data on college costs. We realized that, although we had periodically increased the value of the scholarships, our changes were not keeping pace with rising college costs as closely as we had intended. In 2018 we reached consensus on a strategy to target the value of the Mel Douglass Scholarship at approximately 10% of the cost of four years of college. We define college costs as tuition and required fees plus room and board at public four year institutions. Our primary source of data on college costs is publically published information from the College Board.
The basis for the 10% target is to strike a balance between a reward and perhaps too much of a reward. Since the scholarships are for volunteer community service, we want the amount awarded to be enough to truly help our winners with college expenses but not so much that it makes volunteering the primary way to pay for college. We want to recognize and reward students for their outstanding service but not award unreasonably large amounts for their admirable and selfless acts of volunteer service to others.
We are pleased that our strategy for establishing and maintaining scholarship amounts is now linked to actual market data. Applying that strategy in December 2018, we agreed to increase the Mel Douglass Scholarship to $10,000 and keep the Honorable Mention Scholarships at $1,000. In 2021, we increased the value of the Honorable Mention Scholarships to $1,500.
Moving forward we will continue to monitor external data and adjust the Mel Douglass Scholarship amount as necessary to align with our 10% strategy, assuming we have the resources to do so. In addition, we will periodically adjust the Honorable Mention Scholarship amount as appropriate. Our 10% strategy is subject to change. Each December, we review the strategy in light of relevant factors, such as our endowment and market data, and make changes as necessary.
Results of the December 2024 Review:
- Mel Douglass Scholarships – Maintain the four year amount at $10,000 ($2,500 per year) and continue to award two Mel Douglass Scholarships each year.
- Honorable Mention Scholarships – Maintain the one-time amount at $1,500 for deserving students.
