UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Smart Track to Success, a scholarship program that helps Penn State World Campus students navigate their first year of learning online, is one of the beneficiaries of this year’s University-wide GivingTuesday fundraising drive on Dec. 3.
Penn State is celebrating 10 years of GivingTuesday, a global day of giving that takes place the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
Penn State World Campus alumni and friends are invited to join together and contribute to the Carol E. and Charles E. Snyder World Campus Alumni Society Open Doors Scholarship. Launched with a leadership gift from the Snyders, this endowed scholarship has been funded by the collective effort of alumni and friends and is one of 12 donor-created endowments that provide scholarships to students participating in the Smart Track to Success program.
World Campus hopes to receive gifts from 60 donors to the Snyder World Campus Alumni Society Open Doors Scholarship, created in 2017 as a rallying point for alumni support.
Smart Track to Success is exclusive to World Campus students with financial need who are enrolling in college for the first time or have limited experience in college. Recipients of the scholarship include adult learners, military veterans and active-duty service members. Students take a two-semester course that focuses on academic and life skills and receive mentoring from peers and Penn State staff together with assistance getting involved in the World Campus community. Each student receives a total of $3,000 in scholarship funding over two semesters.
Last year, Smart Track to Success students benefited from World Campus’s GivingTuesday efforts. Sixty-four donors, including all the members of the World Campus Alumni Society Board, made a gift. The total amount raised was $3,450, more than enough to support a student for the entire two-semester program.
“We would very much like to make Smart Track to Success available to even more students, and the gifts we receive from Penn State World Campus alumni and friends will help make this goal possible,” said Don Lenze, senior director of advancement for Penn State Outreach and Online Education. “The scholarships help students overcome significant financial burdens and participate in a program that has been proven to help them be successful in their first year.”
Building on the success of a match incentive they provided in 2023, the president of the World Campus Alumni Society, Mark Poblete, and his wife, Carol, are again offering a matching gift this year: If 30 donors make a gift, the Pobletes will contribute $500. If 60 donors contribute, the couple will contribute another $500, for a total gift of $1,000. Donors can make a gift in any amount beginning at the $5 level.
“Carol and I are honored to be a part of this year's GivingTuesday campaign in support of Smart Track to Success,” Mark Poblete said. “One of the reasons we're so passionate about our relationship with Penn State is that this community has always risen to the challenge when our students need it the most. That's why I'm confident that our fellow World Campus alumni and friends will once again answer the call: Let's show everyone who ‘we are’ and help provide even more students with much-needed financial support and resources through this incredible program.”
The impact of Smart Track to Success
Participants say their participation in Smart Track to Success has helped them be successful online learners.
A student who received funding from the Snyders’ scholarship in 2023 said she was grateful for the financial assistance. She lost her parents when she was in high school and has been supporting herself for several years, even working two jobs.
“School has always been very important to me, and it’s always been my goal to obtain my bachelor’s degree,” the student said. “I honestly did not know how I was going to manage to pay for the remainder of my tuition. Even with two jobs, it still seemed like an impossible feat. Instead of stressing to pay for tuition, I was able to focus more on my grades.”
GivingTuesday
Penn State officially will begin GivingTuesday at 18:55 on the 24-hour clock, or 6:55 p.m. EST, on Dec. 2, getting a jump-start on the international day of giving that concludes at 11:59 p.m. Dec. 3.
GivingTuesday is one of the many ways that World Campus raises funds to support its online learners.
Gifts made on GivingTuesday advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.
Support Smart Track to Success with a gift during GivingTuesday on the website for the fundraising drive.