FAYETTEVILLE -- A $150,000 commitment over five years from Signature Bank of Arkansas will fund three scholarships for Arkansans studying business at the University of Arkansas.
The university announced Monday the first business sponsorship of its Fleischer Scholars program, which also brings high school students to UA for a summer residential program.
"We're asking other banks throughout the state of Arkansas to support these scholars, and so Signature Bank we hope is just the first of many," said Brent Williams, chairman of UA's supply chain management department.
Students must live in Arkansas to receive one of the three scholarships funded by Signature Bank. The awards are for first-generation college students from low-to-medium income families, according to UA's announcement Monday.
The program is meant to help students living where sponsoring banks are located, Williams said, with Signature Bank supporting students in Washington, Benton and Monroe counties. He said another Arkansas bank, the Bank of England, has agreed to sponsor two additional scholarships.
Total undergraduate enrollment in UA's Sam M. Walton College of Business has increased by 44 percent since fall 2011, with 5,432 students enrolled as of this past fall. Of the total, about 46 percent are from Arkansas.
"Our objective is honestly to try to reach into a population of Arkansans that might not have the opportunity to come to the Walton College of Business otherwise," Williams said.
Morton Fleischer, a restaurant financier, started the Fleischer Scholars program at Arizona State University before expanding it to UA.
NW News on 06/09/2016