Loyola University Chicago Announces $100M Gift to Fully Fund Scholarships for Underrepresented Students

CHICAGO, IL – June 2, 2022
Loyola University Chicago today announced a $100 million gift–the largest individual gift in the University’s history–from John and Kathy Schreiber to fund full scholarships, room and board, and an array of comprehensive support services for aspiring Black, Latino, first generation, and other ethnically and racially diverse students who are historically underrepresented in higher education.

Together, the University and the Schreibers aspire to create a new, $500 million restricted portion of the University’s endowment that would make these resources permanent–empowering students to attend and successfully graduate from Loyola for generations to come. The Schreibers’ gift is the foundational investment in this planned program, which aims to fund hundreds of students a year when fully funded.

“Students with talent, grit, and promising leadership potential are, far too often, left out of life-changing scholarship opportunities and services due to circumstances beyond their control. At Loyola Chicago, our Jesuit, Catholic mission is to seek out and support anyone who is traditionally underserved and embrace those willing to work hard and thrive,” said Dr. Jo Ann Rooney, president of Loyola University Chicago. “We are deeply grateful to John and Kathy Schreiber for this transformational investment in the future of promising students. This leadership gift creates opportunity, renews hope, and begins to holistically address and remove systemic barriers to student success and opportunity while inspiring others to take action.”

The program recognizes that students from under-resourced families may not have others in their lives who have gone to college ahead of them. These students often face steeper challenges to achieve a four-year degree. Loyola is a proven and innovative leader in helping students navigate barriers through the success of its Arrupe College and participation in the Achieving College Excellence (ACE) program. These two different approaches to educating students have demonstrated retention and graduation rates far beyond the national averages. The program supported by this transformational gift from the Schreibers will fully cover tuition, room, board, and wraparound support services to remove obstacles that often keep a four-year degree out of reach, including:

1. Mentorship beyond a typical college counselor, connecting students to professional cohort leadership, live-in residential counselors, academic advisors, social work and wellness counselors, career development advisors, tutoring, peer mentors, and others who can help support students in various aspects of their educational journey.
2. Connection to resources students may need: addressing food insecurity through an on-campus food pantry; offering housing assistance and connecting student families to shelters; and providing other support to ease the stress students face when families become homeless.
3. A student community/cohort model proven to be successful in helping students feel a sense of belonging on campus and begin developing their own relationships and peer groups. The program facilitates the development of community through social events, networking functions, and opportunities to live together.

“I’ve long been inspired by the pursuit of excellence grounded in a Jesuit, Catholic mission that I’ve seen at Loyola,” said John Schreiber. “Kathy and I felt called to help level the playing field for students who face far higher barriers to opportunities and to give these students access to an education at Loyola that provides limitless possibilities for their futures. We will be working hard over the coming months and years to inspire others to join us in supporting this important effort. We want this to be the centerpiece of an upcoming comprehensive fundraising campaign that we hope will raise $1 billion for this and other University priorities.”

In addition to the immediate impact, the Schreiber gift is historic in its scale and in its potential to transform students, families, and communities for generations to come. The average difference in lifetime earnings between those with a college degree and those with a high school diploma is approximately $1 million. Not only do individuals with college degrees earn significantly more and build generational wealth, but research also reveals other meaningful and longer-term societal benefits. College graduates are typically more engaged in civic and community affairs, committed to helping others through volunteerism and mentoring, and better equipped to sustain positive health outcomes over the course of their lives.

This gift will also help establish the endowed Schreiber Venture Fund for Social Enterprise which will offer competitive seed grants or early operating support to teams of Loyola faculty and students.

The program will launch in the fall semester of Loyola’s 2022-2023 academic year.

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About John & Kathy Schreiber

John and Kathy Schreiber are active civic leaders and philanthropists, supporting Catholic education, social service, and healthcare institutions. John Schreiber received his BBA from Loyola in 1968 and has served on the Board of Trustees since 2014.

The Schreibers have been regularly giving to Loyola since 1978. Among other gifts, in 2013, the Schreiber Family made the naming gift for the construction of the John and Kathy Schreiber Center, home to Loyola’s Quinlan School of Business on the Water Tower Campus. In 2015, the Schreibers extended their philanthropy to support the launch and ongoing success of Loyola’s Arrupe College, an associate’s degree program with strong support services that enables students to graduate with little to no debt and matriculate to four-year colleges and universities and/or enter the workforce. The Schreibers have also funded efforts to provide legal services for immigrants through Loyola’s Center for the Human Rights of Children (CHRC).

About Loyola University Chicago

Founded in 1870, Loyola University Chicago is one of the nation’s largest Jesuit, Catholic universities, with nearly 17,500 students. The University has four campuses: three in the greater Chicago area and one in Rome, Italy, as well as course locations in Vernon Hills, Illinois (Cuneo Mansion and Gardens), and a Retreat and Ecology Campus in Woodstock, Illinois. The University features 15 schools, colleges, and institutes. Ranked a top national university by U.S. News & World Report, Loyola is also among a select group of universities recognized for community service and engagement by prestigious national organizations including AmeriCorps and the Carnegie Foundation. To learn more about Loyola, visit LUC.edu or follow us on Twitter via @LoyolaChicago.