ALLIANCE, Ohio — The University of Mount Union is pleased to announce the renewal of its Investment Alliance Award for the fall cohorts of 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

The program, which launched in 2014, awards up to 15 full undergraduate tuition scholarships to students ranked in the top 15 of the Alliance High School graduating class. Students in the program are awarded eight consecutive semesters of eligibility unless the undergraduate degree is completed before then. Review of the program will take place annually each spring to determine if the program will continue for the next eligible fall cohort (students enrolled in eighth grade during the spring). 

The goal of the program is to battle the “brain drain” and keep local talent in the city of Alliance, which has been proven a success since the program’s inception. Data from the first seven cohorts of Investment Alliance students from Mount Union indicates that of the 69 students enrolled in the program, 91% have either graduated or are currently enrolled and 64% of the graduates are still living and working in Alliance.

The Investment Alliance program has also been successful in providing a college education to those of whom it might not have been accessible otherwise. Mount Union has dispersed $56 million in scholarships through the program, and 40% of Investment Alliance scholars have been eligible for the Pell Grant at the time of their enrollment. 

“I dreamed of going to college in my hometown, and it wasn't until junior year of high school when I found out I was getting a full-tuition scholarship from Mount Union that my dream was finally becoming a reality,” said Madalyn Waggoner, a senior exercise science major and Investment Alliance scholar. 

“We are proud to continue our partnership with Alliance Local Schools in providing a Mount Union education to the community’s best and brightest students,” Mount Union President Tom Botzman said. “We remain diligent in doing our part to keep around the homegrown talent that helps our area thrive.”

For more information about the program, as well as other scholarship and grant opportunities, visit mountunion.edu/scholarships-and-grants.