Bicentennial Scholars
SIF73, SIF157, SIF172 -closed
SIF184, and SIF189 -active
Cavalier Corner UVA-WISE Scholarships
Project Manager: Mark Luellen
Bicentennial Scholars Fund
The purpose of this project is to build an endowment for student scholarships at UVA and UVA-Wise.
Approved: December 2016 (first award of $100M), August 2018 (second award of $100M), December 2020 (third award of $30M), September 2021 (fourth award of $50M), January 2023 (fifth award of $35M), April 2023 (award reduced $4M, reallocated to Bicentennial Professors award).
Project Start Date: 12/21/2016
Total Funding: $311,000,000
Current Status: Active
Impact:
The Bicentennial Scholars Program will match philanthropic commitments designated for new endowed need- and merit-based scholarships for undergraduate students.
The Bicentennial Scholars Fund makes a bold statement to the Commonwealth and the nation that UVA is committed to affordability, and that access and excellence need not be mutually exclusive. With an investment of up to $200 million over five years, the Bicentennial Scholars Program will match philanthropic commitments designated for new endowed need- and merit-based scholarships for undergraduate students. This investment will continue the University’s tradition of affordability and access for qualified students from all walks of life.
Summary for February 2026
• Bicentennial Scholars Fund Initiative created in December 2016 with $100 million in matching funds allocated. The signature program increases access and affordability for undergraduate students with financial need, and for merit-based scholarships.
• First matching allocation completed by June 2018.
• Additional $100 million in matching funds allocated in August 2018, and another $30 million allocated in December 2019.
• University Achievement Awards and Blue Ridge Scholarships introduced in December 2020 as new scholarship matching opportunities. Both programs share goals of fostering excellence and diversity within the undergrdaute student body and encourage the success of their scholars.
• Additional $50 million in matching funds allocated in September 2021 when the scholarship matching pool reached a point of having less than $10 million in matching funds remaining due to the enthusiasm of donors, another $31 million in matching funds allocated in January 2023.
• To date, aliumni, parent and friends of the University have committed approximately $457 million and have leveraged approximately $311 million in matching funds for a total impact of over $767 million in endowed need-based and merit scholarships across the institution.
Table 1. Summary: Funding, Endowments
| 11/2021 | 11/2022 | 01/2024 | 01/2025 | 02/2026 |
Total UVA matching funds offered: | $270M | $270M | $311M | $311M | $311M |
Total number of donations pledged to date (signed and verbal): | $319M | $341M | $366M | $426 | $457 |
Total matching funds allocated to date (signed and verbal): | $223M | $240M | $260M | $292 | $311 |
Total matching funds remaining: | $47M | $30M | $52M | $20M | $0 |
Total endowed funds created: | *437 | 521 | *614 | 704 | 757 |
*An individual endowment can distribute multiple scholarship awards and support multiple recipients in a given
See full report HERE
UVA Invests Additional $65 Million in Bicentennial Funds for Scholarships, Professorships
March 3, 2023
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan on Friday announced an additional contribution of $65 million to the pools of matching funds for two key programs that benefit both students and faculty at UVA.
The Bicentennial Scholars and Bicentennial Professors funds, initiated in 2017 around the bicentennial of the University’s founding, have been one of the most impactful initiatives of the Honor the Future campaign. This combination of philanthropy matched by the University’s Strategic Investment Fund has energized private philanthropy around key strategic initiatives of the University and created more than $588 million for permanently endowed scholarships, as well as more than $468 million for endowed professorships. Read more...
