Giving Priorities

Moving Pitzer Forward One Donor at a Time

Today’s Pitzer College is a remarkable place without intellectual limitations or physical boundaries, where students challenge themselves and discover inspired futures. We pride ourselves on creating personally transformative student experiences through small classes, world-class faculty and our proactive community of learners and leaders.

Now more than ever, each individual gift to Pitzer is essential. It is though the generosity of our donors that we have the resources to expand this extraordinary educational undertaking and truly make a difference in the many lives it touches.

When you make a gift to Pitzer, you have tremendous flexibility in determining how the funds will be used. Each one is important and up to you.

Restricted or Unrestricted Gifts

Gifts can be directed, or restricted, to a specific program or College giving priority that is meaningful to you. Unrestricted gifts are among the most valuable to Pitzer College as they are used wherever the need is greatest and allow the President to say “yes” to unique opportunities as they arise.

Current Use or Endowed Funds

You may direct your gift for current use, a contribution that is put to work immediately, or for the endowment. Endowed gifts are pooled together and invested in perpetuity to provide a reliable, long-term source for faculty positions, student scholarships, academic programs and other priorities.

What is Your Passion?

The Pitzer Fund supports every student, program, field group, and professor on campus. Unrestricted gifts to the Pitzer Fund can be used for any of the College’s current priorities, providing the flexibility to respond rapidly and take advantage of unexpected opportunities. Tuition alone does not cover the cost of a Pitzer education, and Pitzer’s endowment does not generate the amount needed to support the immediate needs of our students: the Pitzer Fund covers that gap.

Pitzer Annual Scholarship Fund opens doors and makes dreams a reality. Annual scholarships provide substantial and immediate financial assistance to students and are made possible by the generosity of donors. Scholarships may be annual or endowed. An annual scholarship is offered on a year-to-year basis, depending on the renewal of donor support or the availability of funding.
The Annual Scholarship Fund provides important opportunities for students and is often the difference as to whether or not they can attend Pitzer. When donors invest in students, they expand opportunities for the next generation of thinkers, problem solvers, and leaders.

Named Scholarships
Affordability opens doors and makes dreams possible. The minimum gift to establish a Named Scholarship Fund directed toward a Pitzer college major or containing other specific scholarship-recipient criteria is $100,000; an Endowed Financial Aid Award, which provides need-based support for any admitted student, is $25,000. 

The Internship Fund (PIF) is the result of generous gifts from Pitzer Alumni, Parents/Family Members, and Friends to provide funding for unpaid or low-paid summer internships. The goal of the Pitzer Internship Fund is to support student engagement in meaningful internship experiences that facilitate career exploration and the development of professional skills and networks.

The Student Experience
Faculty-Student Research Awards
Student Summer Internships
Student Conference Travel Fund
Residential Life Programs
The Green Bike Program
Pitzer Student Emergency Fund
Athletics

Academics
Teaching and Learning Fund
Faculty Development Fund
Distinguished Lecture Fund
Professorship
Program Director
Urban Fellowship for Pitzer Alumni

Faculty Program Funds
Pitzer is organized by field groups rather than traditional departments. With a faculty-to-student teaching ratio of 10:1, many funding opportunities exist in support of the innovative programs, leading-edge curriculum, research endeavors, cultural activities and community engagement that the field groups advance. The minimum gift to endow a Faculty Program Fund is $25,000 with its designated use managed by the specific field group or interest area it benefits.

Institutes, Centers and Intercollegiate Departments
Center for Asian Pacific American Students
Community Engagement Center
Institute for Local/Global Action and Study
Intercollegiate Department of Africana Studies
Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies
Intercollegiate Media Studies
Intercollegiate Neuroscience Program
Mosbacher/Gartrell Center for Media Experimentation and Activism
CASA Pitzer
Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability
Study Abroad and International Programs
The Writing Center

Places and Spaces
Pitzer College Art Galleries/Studios
Arboretum and Grounds
The Grove House
Study Rooms
Classrooms and Laboratories
Gold Student Health and Wellness Center
Residence Halls
Outdoor Courtyards, Patios and Benches

And more…
Contact the Office of College Advancement for more information.