The Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences plans to financially help students while being awarded the most successful scholarship campaign in the department. 

The College of Agriculture Life and Sciences announced a large scholarship campaign to benefit incoming freshmen who want to pursue a four-year bachelor’s degree. The campaign has already gone into effect, with plans to fund 30 scholarships every year. The campaign implemented an organized goal of $100,000 endowments to recruit incoming undergraduate students. 

“It is a high priority to increase our recruiting efforts to help attract these outstanding students and support them once they start their education,” Vice Chancellor and Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Jeffrey W. Savell said. 

“One of the best ways to help get these students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is to provide these wonderful scholarships that will help support them for four years,” Savell said.

The scholarship realm is very beneficial to students to help offset the costs of tuition and housing, as well as other additional needs, Associate Dean for Student Development of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences Chris Skaggs said. 

“I think, no question, [these] scholarships will be very impactful,” Skaggs said. “We know the cost of attendance for [A&M] is somewhere around $32,000 per year.”

The Dean’s Excellence Scholarships are for incoming freshmen who are both academically successful and who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in high school, Savell said. 

 “As I mentioned, we want the best and brightest students who will excel in and out of the classroom here at [A&M], and, when they graduate, [will] shine as leaders in their chosen fields,” Savell said. 

The designated amount of money will be sent to those with the scholarship at the beginning of each semester, Skaggs said.  

“They will get $2,000 per semester that will be applied to their account,” Skaggs said. 

The fundraising process will begin by looking for donors who want to support both   first-generation students and the Corps of Cadets, Savell said. 

“There will be additional areas as we progress in the program that will match the donor’s wishes with our need to recruit students with specific educational goals and backgrounds,” Savell said. 

The objective is to grant 30 Dean’s Excellence scholarships every year to incoming freshmen, Senior Director of Development for the Texas A&M Foundation Jennifer Ann Scasta said.

“Those scholarships will travel with those students assuming that they meet and remain in good standing with the university all four years being in the College of Ag[riculture and Life Sciences],” Scasta said. 

At this time, faculty and staff are actively fundraising to secure spots for the coming school year, Scasta said. 

“For endowed, that is a $100,000 commitment that will generate $4,000 in scholarship funds each year to the students who are awarded it,” Scasta said. 

There are 15 departments in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences that fit so many diverse areas that improve all areas of every person’s life, Savell said. 

“From natural resources, biochemistry, forensics, nutrition, horticulture [and] animal science, the list goes on and on,” Savell said. “We look forward to increasing our commitment to the success of our students now and long into the future, thanks to these endowments. 

There have not been many four-year scholarships before within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Assistant Vice Chancellor in Marketing and Communications Katherine Hancock said. 

“I think that is important,” Hancock said. “We want to make sure we are doing as much as we can for the success of the students.”
For information on funding one of the scholarships, visit their webpage with frequently asked questions.