Named scholarships & funds
When it comes to earning a college degree, the greatest obstacle can be funding.
For this reason, The University of Akron is pleased for the opportunity each year to assist talented, deserving students achieve their dreams, thanks to more than 1,300 named scholarships established through the kindness and generosity of thousands of °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ alumni and friends, corporations, and foundations.
Scholarships truly are the best way to ensure that today’s students persist to graduation. Scholarships allow students to enroll full time and remain focused on their studies; they also reduce drop-out rates, decrease the stress of student loans, and shorten the road to graduation.
If you are interested in making a significant contribution to student success, please consider a gift to scholarships. You may also establish a named scholarship at The University of Akron, which can be created to honor a living person, in memory of a loved one, or to contribute to the growth of an area of study.
To learn more, please contact the Department of Development at 330-972-7238.
How do I apply for a scholarship?
This is not the page to apply for scholarships.
Students who want to apply for scholarships should visit the scholarship page on the Financial Aid site. You can find the link for the online application here.
The Department of Development does not accept applications for or distribute scholarships. Scholarships are distributed through the University’s Office of Student Financial Aid.
Search for a Named Scholarship
DeVries, Howard and Sylvia Endowed Memorial Scholarship in Accounting
Patricia D. Gold established The Howard and Sylvia De Vries Endowed Memorial Scholarship in Accounting in 2022 to honor her parents, Howard and Sylvia DeVries, who sent all three of their children to The University of Akron for their undergraduate degrees. In their memory she wishes to help students achieve their own educational success. Patricia is a 1972 °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ alumna who earned a bachelor's degree in French. As a student, she was a member of the °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ Orchestra for two years. In 1979, she earned a master's degree in Library Science from Kent State University and worked at the Akron Public Library for several years prior to her marriage and subsequent move to Columbus, Ohio, in 1981.
Howard DeVries was born in Hartford, Conn., in 1915. He received the bookkeeping award upon graduation from high school with hopes of becoming an accountant. He began taking college classes at night but had to stop to help support his family due to the Great Depression. He never had another opportunity to pursue his dream of being an accountant.
Howard held various jobs in the New York City area, using his skills in typing, shorthand and bookkeeping as well as his keen aptitude for sales. He met and married his wife, Sylvia, in 1942 before being drafted shortly after and sent to a U.S. Army base in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Sylvia, born and raised in Akron, obtained a secretarial degree from a local business college. She followed Howard to Wyoming, and subsequently to the east coast; always obtaining work as a secretary before Howard shipped overseas for three years. During WW II, Sylvia worked at Goodyear Aerospace until Howard's discharge in 1945. He then began working with Sylvia's father selling produce at various outdoor locations in northeast Ohio. He did this for 50 years, stopping at age 80. He returned to work at Acme #1 at age 81 and continued until he was 90.
Recipients of The Howard and Sylvia DeVries Endowed Memorial Scholarship in Accounting shall be full- or part-time students enrolled in The University of Akron College of Business George W. Daverio School of Accountancy. Recipients must be a junior or senior in the College, be in good standing at the University, and carry a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average (GPA). Selection will be made by the George W. Daverio School of Accountancy scholarship committee.
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