Donor recognition

These donors provide vital financial support to the College of Education and are ensuring student opportunity and enriching learning experiences by establishing funds that support academic advancement, research initiatives, and other activities.

Those alumni and friends within our lifetime giving societies provide the necessary financial support to the College of Education that guarantees national prominence. These donors establish endowments and scholarships that ensure student access to higher education, improve the quality of that education, and provide for groundbreaking and innovative research.

Education Circle of Distinction
$100,000 or more cumulative giving

The Chambers Society
$25,000-$99,999

Philanthropist
$5,000-$24,999

Members of these societies receive benefits including a personal phone call from the Dean; our quarterly leadership letter, with an insider’s look into the College’s activities; and a standing invitation to our Homecoming Brunch in the fall and annual Leadership Dinner in the spring. These members will also receive invitations to additional special events held regionally and at the University as they occur.

Alumni and friends of the College of Education provide necessary operating support through annual gifts at all levels. Their sustained commitment provides core funding for our improvement and progress at the College.

Annual gifts to the College of Education support student opportunity, faculty strength, and programs. The continued philanthropic commitment of alumni and friends to the College allows our students and faculty to further achieve our academic mission and continue to lead in the field of education.

Dean’s Council
$1,000 or more in annual gifts

Education Associates
$500-$999

Education Partners
$250-$499

Century Club
$100-$249

Members of the Dean’s Council will receive our quarterly leadership letter, with an insider’s look into the College’s activities, and an invitation to our Homecoming Brunch in the fall and annual Leadership Dinner in the spring. Members of all the societies will receive letters from our director of development and Dean, as well as a tax-deductible gift receipt.

Estate gifts, and other planned gifts such as gift annuities, life insurance and charitable trusts, ensure continued growth and achievement for the College of Education into the future.

Those individuals who choose to include the College of Education in their planned giving recognize not only the current needs of the College, but its future needs as well. When arranging such a gift, you will receive membership to the Atherton Society, named for the University's seventh president George Atherton who sought to ensure Penn State's future and continued prosperity.

To officially become a member of the Atherton Society, notify the Office of Gift Planning (214 103 Building, University Park, PA 16802) via written documentation that you have included the College of Education in your planned giving, regardless of the amount.

Planned gifts include:

• a bequest in a will or living trust
• a charitable gift annuity
• a charitable lead trust
• a charitable remainder trust
• a remainder interest in a home, farm, or other property
• designation of Penn State as the beneficiary of a retirement plan or a life insurance policy

Members of this society will receive specialized updates and publications from the University, as well as ongoing invitations to our Homecoming Brunch in the fall and our annual Leadership Dinner in the spring.

More information pertaining to the Atherton Society can be found on the Giving to Penn State Web site.

You may also want to read The Atherton Society online brochure.