SWEPCO Foundation gives $500,000 for University of Arkansas scholarship

The foundation of Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO), a utility of Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power, said Monday (May 18) that it will give $500,000 to the University of Arkansas to support the first 100 students to receive its Land of Opportunity Scholarship.

University and SWEPCO staff, including UA Chancellor Charles Robinson and SWEPCO President Brett Mattison, gathered on campus Monday to announce that SWEPCO will serve as the inaugural corporate sponsor of the first cohort of Land of Opportunity scholars, who start classes this fall.

So far, 66 students from 62 Arkansas counties have accepted a Land of Opportunity scholarship, said Scott Varady, vice chancellor of advancement at the UA. By the start of the semester this fall, the UA expects to have 100 scholars on campus.

The scholarship supports Pell-eligible students from all 75 counties in Arkansas. According to the UA, students with significant financial need have a 20% lower graduation rate. The scholarship aims to bridge the gap between available financial aid and the cost of tuition, fees and housing at the UA. Along with the scholarship, scholars receive mentorship, academic coaching, financial planning, and opportunities such as undergraduate research, study abroad, and internships with Arkansas companies like SWEPCO.

“We have a lot of students in Arkansas that have the ability,” Mattison said. “They just don’t have the affordability. And with this scholarship, that’s going to close that gap and get them here.”

Mattison said his youngest daughter graduated from the UA in 2019, 60 years after his father did.

“We are so proud to welcome SWEPCO for their support of the Land of Opportunity Scholarship,” Varady said. “They are visionary supporters and partners in the land of opportunity. And this is an historic first. There are all times when you have corporate sponsors who come along and help the university in so many ways, but it’s the first time that the academic side has joined with a corporate partner in such a way and particularly at this magnitude.”

Robinson said the scholarship “is really about investing in Arkansas, bringing those students here, making sure they’re fully integrated into this experience and that they have great success…

“And we want them to stay in Arkansas. Now, we can’t make that happen. Companies can… But we can prepare them for the workforce and better ensure, by connecting them meaningfully to opportunities here in the state as students, that they will find a path forward to stay and be taxpayers to the state of Arkansas.”

In an interview following his remarks, Robinson said the scholarships aren’t awarded as fixed amounts. Students receive the scholarship based on their need. The students who received the scholarship went through the traditional admissions and scholarship process.

He said the UA has raised about $140 million of the $200 million goal in the UA’s Land of Opportunity Scholarship campaign. The three-year campaign launched Nov. 12, 2024, with the announcement of a $100 million gift from Jane Hunt and Bryan Hunt on behalf of the J.B. and Johnelle Hunt family.

“We’re going to do great things with it,” Robinson said. “We’re going to transform lives from the state of Arkansas with this program, which will be here forever. And forever is a long time, right? Forever this scholarship, because we’re endowing it, will be here to serve the state of Arkansas.”

Robinson said SWEPCO’s $500,000 gift doesn’t go toward the endowment, but it’s money the UA won’t need to draw from the endowment for students in the first year of the scholarship program.