Scholarships offered Jesse Dubler '09, who is profoundly deaf, the support to pursue his education and allowed him to participate in the SEAPLEX research voyage.

At the University of California, San Diego, a growing number of potential students will need financial support to offset rising fees and the cost of living. To address this critical need for funding, San Diego community leaders Pauline Foster and Joan and Irwin Jacobs have joined forces with the university to launch "Invent the Future: The UC San Diego Student Support Campaign," a three-year, $50 million fundraising effort. Private support generated by the campus-wide campaign will help UC San Diego stay competitive in attracting outstanding graduate and undergraduate students to campus.

Local philanthropist and business owner Pauline Foster has made a $2.5 million charitable gift commitment to the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego to endow MBA student fellowships, which are scholarships for graduate students.  Her generous contribution will serve as a challenge to encourage others in joining the school’s ongoing fundraising activities.  Longtime campus supporters Joan and Irwin Jacobs — he is a former faculty member and co-founder of Qualcomm —­ gave $1.4 million to the Jacobs School Scholars and Fellows program, an annual donation that funds four-year undergraduate scholarships and first-year graduate fellowships to attract talented students to UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering.

"As UC San Diego continues to struggle with the global recession and severe state budget cuts, we must maintain our primary focus — educating the best and brightest students to become tomorrow’s innovative leaders and problem solvers," said UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. "The opportunity to support an exceptional student is one of the most effective ways to nurture and support our next generation of leaders."

Scientist Beth Baber, Ph.D., '09 MBA, was frustrated with treatments for her son's rare cancer. She received a scholarship to complete her MBA, allowing her to open the Nicholas Conor Institute for Pediatric Cancer Research.

The Princeton Review annual college guide ranks UC San Diego as the seventh best value among public universities in the nation, yet state budget cuts have resulted in a 51 percent decline in student support to the University of California over the past 19 years. Couple that with a significant 30 percent fee increase proposed by the University of California, and the result could be that some students may not be able to begin — or continue — their education at UCSD.

UC San Diego’s 28,500 students started classes on Sept. 24. Undergraduate students will pay an estimated $24,930 per year for fees, on-campus room and board, books and supplies, transportation and other living expenses; out of state undergraduates pay an additional $22,669 in non-resident tuition and fees.  Graduate students living off campus face $28,293 in fees, tuition and other costs. Out of state graduate students must add another $15,036 to their educational budget.

At UC San Diego, graduate students help advance research, play a vital role in educating undergraduates and drive regional industry, as well as help to attract and retain top faculty — but only 16 percent receive fellowships, making it difficult for UC San Diego to compete with peer institutions. Students often must choose the college that offers the highest level of support.

“We are trying to transform the economy, yet people are not focused enough on education. Student support is the most important gift you can give,” said Pauline Foster, who also is chair of the UC San Diego Foundation Board of Trustees. "The gift of education is one you can’t take away."

At UC San Diego, 64 percent of all undergraduates receive financial assistance.  The campus needs three times the current scholarship funding for future innovators and leaders to improve access, and compete with other top public universities.  Annually, UC San Diego awards $3 million in privately funded scholarships, compared with $19 million at UC Berkeley and $8 million at UCLA. UC San Diego’s "Invent the Future" campaign will help support undergraduates with merit, need-based and research scholarships.

"A scholarship is not just a financial pull-up, it's an emotional and career pull-up," explained Autumn Hays '10, a UC San Diego visual arts studio major.  "It’s a matter of helping students make their lives better."

UC San Diego needs help now to raise $50 million for graduate fellowships and undergraduate scholarships. For more information about Invent the Future: The UC San Diego Student Support Initiative, please visit the Web site at www.giving.ucsd.edu/InventTheFuture or call (858) 534-1610.