Office of Advancement
Eastman School of Music Scholarships Initiative-DRAFT
Eastman’s legacy of world-class education and musicianship will be enhanced and carried forward by its students, making it critical to attract and retain the most talented musicians. And to do that, the School must first meet one of the most pressing needs for gifted students: scholarship assistance.
Student support is a top priority within The Meliora Challenge: The Campaign for the University of Rochester, and by contributing to scholarships, you can help keep the Eastman experience accessible to qualified and deserving students, regardless of their financial background and enable more students to train without the burden of debt.
Investing in young musicians at Eastman is an investment in the ways they will make an impact on the world as leading artists and paradigm-changing innovators, and it is an investment in the School’s future. There are two types of scholarships in which you can invest—endowed and current-use:
Endowed Scholarships
Eastman strives to provide the resources necessary to help students flourish in their training and future careers. Endowed scholarships accomplish this in perpetuity.
Endowed gifts are invested and managed by the University. A portion of the investment earnings is spent, while the original gifts are preserved as principal. In this way, endowed gifts have far greater earning power—a one-time gift lasts forever.
By establishing an endowed scholarship you also establish a legacy of support for the most promising musicians. You can create yours with a minimum gift of $50,000 or at one of the following levels. The calculations below demonstrate funding available based on using 5% of the fund’s five-year rolling market value.
Endowed Scholarship Levels
Patron $1 million+
Initially yields approximately $50,000 in annual scholarship supportBenefactor $600,000+
Initially yields approximately $30,000 in annual scholarship supportSupporting $100,000+
Initially yields approximately $5,000 annual scholarship support
George Eastman Circle Scholarships
George Eastman Circle Scholarships are an opportunity to have an immediate impact on students by providing current-use funds, which are disbursed as soon as the following academic year. George Eastman Circle Scholarships help qualified and deserving students pursue their dreams of a world-class music education with fewer of the burdens and limitations that come with debt.
With a minimum annual gift of $5,000, for a period of five years or more, these unrestricted scholarships:
- Build a bridge between talented music professionals, lovers of music and/or supporters of academic excellence and talented and deserving students.
- Can be established in your name or in the name of someone you wish to honor.
- Qualify you for a George Eastman Circle membership, if you are not already a member.
We invite you to read some of the stories of our scholarship recipients by clicking on their photos above.
