At Butler, providing an exceptional student-centered learning experience is at the heart of everything we do. We are passionate about the transformative impact we make in students’ lives and are driven to make this experience available to all who seek it.
Because many of our students are only able to consider Butler as a viable option with the help of Butler-funded academic and need-based scholarships, Butler offers the best possible financial aid package upfront. Unfortunately, the ever-growing total of scholarship funding required to meet our students’ needs is not sustainable. During the 2019-20 academic year, Butler committed more than $77 million to students in the form of scholarships and financial aid. This past spring, in response to the unforeseen economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Butler pledged an additional $10 million in financial aid to incoming and returning students. Additionally, Butler will not be raising tuition in the upcoming 2020-2021 academic year to help ease the burden of students and their families during this difficult time.
We are committed to ensuring that a Butler education remains accessible to every deserving student, regardless of financial circumstance. But to make this vision sustainable, Butler students need your support.
Featured Scholarship Initiatives
Ayres Student Assistance Fund
Join the Butler University Alumni Association as they work to raise funds and awareness for the Ayres Student Assistance Fund. The Ayres Student Assistance Fund helps students whose financial need increases due to a change in their financial circumstances which could prevent them from completing their education at Butler University (i.e. parent/personal job loss, disability, etc.). Supporting the Ayres fund provides financial resources to students at-risk of not being able to graduate into the alumni family. The BU Alumni Association board of directors will match gifts, dollar for dollar up to $8,000.
Melissa Smurdon, Director of Financial Aid has shared this thought. “I have worked in the Butler Office of Financial Aid for 28 years. The Ayres Student Assistance Fund is one of the most impactful aid programs we have to target support to students exactly where needed. For a student who has already invested significantly in a Butler education, a small Butler investment in turn pays huge dividends over a lifetime for that student and the Butler community.”
Central Indiana Tuition Guarantee Challenge
Former leaders of the Butler Central Indiana Community and their families, Branden ’02 and Jenn Renner and Christina ’04 and Craig Fugate, MS ’17, are coming together to support the Butler Tuition Guarantee Program. Gifts received to the Tuition Guarantee Program will be matched dollar for dollar until our $2,500 goal is reached.
The Butler Tuition Guarantee Program offers up to 10 full-tuition awards to students graduating from a Marion County high school who demonstrate financial need, have a solid academic record, and demonstrate participation in high school extracurricular activities and community service projects.
Show Your Pride College Scholarship Challenge
The first $30,000 in Day of Giving gifts made to the Annual Scholarship Fund of any of our six academic colleges will be doubled! Support student scholarships in the College of Communication, College of Education, Jordan College of the Arts, Lacy School of Business, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and/or the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and your gift will be matched!
Butler Fund for Student Scholarship Matching Challenge
Gifts made to the Butler Fund for Student Scholarship will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $25,000 on Day of Giving. Butler University has steadily grown our financial aid allocation to nearly $78 million per year, but we need your help to further expand the financial resources available to our students and their families. Your gift to the Butler Fund for Student Scholarship will allow students to continue to experience the superior education that can only be offered at Butler University.
MBA Scholarship Challenge
Support Butler MBA students by making a gift to the Weedon Scholarship Fund. The MBA Alumni Community Steering Committee is matching all gifts, up to $3,500, to the Weedon Fund for Day of Giving - doubling your impact! Make your gift today to help deserving MBA students receive the support they need to achieve their goals.
"The Weedon Scholarship was immensely helpful toward the completion of my MBA at Butler. I was faced with the prospect of putting my MBA plans on hold without some financial assistance. While working full-time and going to evening and weekend courses was challenging, the generosity of donors ensured that I could continue pursuing my MBA at Butler." - David Watkins, MBA
Bud Kerwin Scholarship Matching Challenge
Harry (Bud) Kerwin encouraged all of his dance students to be the best creative versions of themselves, and “go for it” in a very challenging career. To honor his legacy, the Bud Kerwin JCA Dance Scholarship was created to immortalize all he gave to his students and the dance community. In celebration of Day of Giving, gifts to this fund will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $2,500, as a way to say “thank you” to one of the most important mentors and teachers that ever walked into the dance studios at Butler University!
