A Little Rock family has donated $2 million to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for student scholarships, the school said Wednesday.
The money from the Bailey Family Foundation will create the Bailey Scholars fund, which will provide financial aid based on merit and need, said Bob Denman, the university's vice chancellor for advancement. The donation is the start of the university's new student success fundraising initiative, which seeks to raise money for more student scholarships and support.
"So many [students] have to have financial aid of some sort, and, too often, that is a student loan," Denman said. "We want to provide the resources so that we can be more affordable."
Of the 11,924 students enrolled at the university this fall, 9,813 -- or about 82 percent -- receive some type of monetary aid, ranging from federal Pell grants, which are awarded based on financial need and do not have to be repaid, to institutional scholarships. About 3,570 of the university's students receive the Pell grant.
The gift comes as the state is exploring ways to change financial aid awards to include more need-based recipients. The hope is to help students who need financial aid to complete college, ultimately raising the state's graduation rates and better preparing the graduates for the workforce.
The state currently disburses about 6 percent -- or about $8 million -- of its $134 million scholarship aid to students with financial need. The remainder is awarded based on merit.
Colleges and universities can make up the difference with institutional scholarships.
And the Bailey Foundation, led by longtime UALR supporter Dr. Ted Bailey, is trying to do just that.
The family foundation wants to reach as many students as possible with the donation, according to a news release. The foundation is giving the university the full amount over a 10-year period.
"The university is one of the most important institutions in our community," Bailey said in a prepared statement.
Bailey began his medical practice in Little Rock as an otolaryngologist, concentrating on the ears, nose and throat. He founded the Arkansas Otolaryngology Center and retired in 1994. He has served on UALR's board of visitors and the university's foundation board.
The Bailey Foundation's board members also include Mary Bailey Shafer, Ted Bailey III, Jo Bailey McCray, John Bailey, Amy Bailey and Sharon Bailey, Ted Bailey's wife and a graduate of the UALR College of Business' Executive Master of Business Administration program.
The family has given to the university as far back as the 1980s, Denman said. The gifts include support for the university's teaching academy and faculty excellence awards.
Its most prominent donation was the Bailey Alumni and Friends Center at 28th Street and Campus Drive. The center, he said, is used about 300 times a year.
According to Internal Revenue Service tax forms, the foundation donated about $383,622 to several Arkansas groups in 2014. Of that amount, some $1,000 went to UALR's College of Business, $1,500 went to the UALR Foundation, and $1,000 went to the university, the foundation reported.
Wednesday's announcement came a few months after Sharon Bailey, who is also on the university's foundation board of directors, initially heard about UALR's new fundraising initiative for student success.
"We had been thinking about it for quite a while -- a way to help as many students as we could," Sharon Bailey said in a prepared statement. "We thought it was just the right time to make the first gift, the lead gift."
Metro on 11/12/2015