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Creating a Scholarship

There are a number of ways to set up a scholarship: an outright gift may be made via check or credit card. There may be significant tax benefits if the gift is made using appreciated securities, by establishing a charitable trust, or by giving real property. Will bequests can also be used to create opportunities for students.

There are two different types of scholarships that UH donors can establish:

  • Endowed Scholarships create a permanent fund.  Contributions are prudently invested to ensure the scholarship retains its value in perpetuity, and the scholarships created by the endowment are funded through the income generated by the endowment.
  • Annual Scholarships reflect a donor’s commitment to support a scholarship for a specific number of semesters or years.  Contributions are usually made and expended in the same fiscal year.

Donors may name scholarships when the amount given meets the minimum funding requirements for an annual or endowed scholarship.  Many of our donors have used this opportunity to honor a parent, professor or loved one. 

Alternatively, donors may choose to give to existing scholarship funds in the department or school of their choice.  Donors are not involved in student selection, which is conducted by the appropriate academic department.

Naming Opportunities in Support of Students

Minimum Requirements UH Mānoa UH Hilo UH West Oʻahu Community Colleges
Minimum required to name an Endowed scholarship * $35,000 $25,000 $25,000 $25,000
Minimum required to name an Annual scholarship $3,000 $2,000 $2,000 $1,000

* An initial gift of $10,000 is required to establish an endowed fund (funding must be brought up to the required level within 5 years).


The UH Foundation is here to assist you with those options.

Please contact Malia Peters, Director of Scholarship Development at Malia.Peters@uhfoundation.org or call (808) 956-6311.

For Our University, Our Hawai‘i, Our Future