Jefferson Scholars Foundation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                     Contact: Pam Fitzgerald 434-979-2678

JEFFERSON SCHOLARS FOUNDATION
AWARDS $7.65 MILLION IN ACADEMIC AID

Four-year Scholarships range up to $180,000 and five-year Fellowships, $250,000.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (May, 2008) | The Jefferson Scholars Foundation has awarded scholarships to thirty-three outstanding high school seniors and fellowships to eight graduate students entering the University of Virginia this coming fall. This year’s Jefferson Scholars—eleven in-state and twenty out-of-state, one from Malaysia and one from China—were selected from over 1,000 nominees. The Jefferson Fellows were chosen from a field of applicants nominated by their departments in colleges and universities across the nation.

Both Jefferson Scholarships and Graduate Fellowships cover the full cost of attending the University, including tuition and fees, room, board, books, and other expenses. “We are delighted with this year’s class,” says James H. Wright, President of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation. “These young men and women embody excellence in leadership, scholarship, and citizenship and possess the potential to provide the next generation of leadership to the University, the nation, and the world.”

The Jefferson Scholars were chosen from an outstanding field of applicants who excelled in a wide range of endeavors both in and outside the classroom. The majority served on student councils and participated in varsity athletics; fourteen have been active in theater and music; individuals within the group achieved a total of sixteen perfect SAT scores. One is an amateur cartographer; two started their own businesses; another created a multischool language training program for elementary school students. The group includes an Olympic torchbearer for the 2008 Olympics and a founder of an environmental protection group. “The entering class holds promise in all fields of endeavor,” says Wright, “By any measure, Jefferson Scholars excel as individuals and as contributing members of our society.”

The new class of Graduate Fellows, receiving stipends for tuition and research that range from $100,000 to $250.000, will be studying at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and at the Darden Graduate School of Business. “These talented individuals exhibited not only excellence in academics but also a keen spirit of inquiry and a willingness to communicate their knowledge,” says Wright. “Spirited conversation among great thinkers is a critical component of the Fellows’ contribution to the University. These outstanding graduate students embrace the opportunity to share what they know with scholars in other disciplines in order that knowledge may advance on all fronts.” They join twenty-seven other Fellows currently working in departments and schools across the University.

The 28-year-old not-for-profit Jefferson Scholars Foundation serves the University of Virginia by identifying, attracting, and nurturing individuals of extraordinary intellectual range and depth who possess the highest qualities of leadership, scholarship, and citizenship. The Foundation currently supports 128 undergraduate students and 33 graduate students.