Ways of Giving | Eastern Shore Community College

Ways of Giving/Opportunities to Give

Cash (usually in the form of a check) is the most common way to give. Gifts of cash can be deducted up to 50% of your adjusted gross income in the year you make the gift; any unused deduction can be deducted in any of the next five tax years. Please mail your check to the ESCC Foundation, 29300 Lankford Highway, Melfa, VA 23410

Stocks and Bonds are, next to cash, the most popular way of making a gift. Giving securities owned for more than a year creates an income tax deduction equal to the securities' cash value, while avoiding capital gain tax.

Real Estate or real property gifts are considered by the ESCC Foundation on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the property's marketability or the location's usefulness to the college among other factors. Please obtain professional advice regarding any tax benefits of giving real property.

Personal Property with a use in the college's educational programs are welcomed as Gifts in Kind (see below). Other valuable property such as antique furniture, works of art, or otherwise will be considered for acceptance by the ESCC Foundation. Please obtain professional advice regarding any tax benefits of giving personal property.

Gifts in Kind includes any tangible personal property which the college can use in its educational programs, such as some works of art, certain computer equipment, certain industrial equipment or machinery, books, school supplies, etc. Please contact Eve Belote to discuss a gift in kind at 757.789.1767 or ebelote@es.vccs.edu . Please also obtain professional advice regarding any tax benefits of giving personal property.

Honorary or Memorial gifts recognize special individuals, anniversaries or events. Memorial gifts recognize the lifetime accomplishments of those who have passed away. Honorary or memorial gifts can be unrestricted or designated for a specific use. A letter is sent to the surviving family mentioning the name of the donor, but not the amount of the gift. Named scholarships can be established through memorial / honorary gifts totaling $500 and endowed gifts totaling $10,000.

Your Gift's Impact

Unrestricted Gifts

Unrestricted gifts are allocated to the area of greatest need, as determined by the college administration and the Foundation's Board of Directors.

Endowment

Gifts to endowment create a fund designed to last forever. The Foundation invests all endowment gifts, drawing a limited amount from the return on the invested fund every year for the college's needs. The fund principal remains intact, and may increase with excess investment returns, to continue to provide for the college's needs in future years. Draws from endowment funds may be for the unrestricted needs of the college, or may be for specific purposes named by the donor of the fund.

Scholarships

Helping deserving individuals gain access to education at ESCC is the Foundation's greatest priority. Gifts to current scholarship funds are used now to help today's students pay college tuition and expenses. Gifts to a scholarship endowment create a fund designed to last forever, one that will provide scholarship assistance to students for years to come.

Planned Gifts for Eastern Shore Community College

Your Legacy for Your Community

Hope, achievement, fulfillment, and success - all these things come from an educated mind. Of course, so do more concrete necessities like nurses, accountants, and technicians. People on Virginia's Eastern Shore look to ESCC for the education and skills they need to succeed. Meanwhile, the community as a whole has come to depend on skilled workers who train in ESCC programs.

Whether the motive is gratitude for a good start in a career, or simple understanding that this college brings good things to our community by bringing out the best in its people, many citizens have acted to create a legacy for the college in their estate plans.

Keep your resources as long as you need them.

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  A bequest in your will - Look at some approaches that have worked for alumnae and friends of the school, complete with sample bequest language (click here).


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  Giving with retirement plans - By including ESCC in your IRA or 401(k) plans, you can make a gift without changing your will (click here).


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  Giving with life insurance. Find out more (click here).

Receive an income back from your gift.

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  A secure lifetime income - Charitable gift annuities provide both fixed and secure lifetime payments, and a gift to the school (click here).


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  An income with flexibility - Charitable remainder trusts can provide variable or fixed income for persons, and for a time period, chosen by you (click here).

Pass assets along to heirs more easily, at lower tax.

Giving with retirement plans: Giving part of your retirement plan to the school will save you taxes, whether you are concerned about estate taxes or not (click here).

Join the Legacy Society

Several long-standing supporters of ESCC have joined the Legacy Society by including ESCC in their financial or estate planning and informing the school of their decision. Their gifts, large and small, take many different forms. Common to all planned gift donors is a desire to perpetuate their support for the college's mission to brighten their community's future.

Please let us know. By creating a legacy for your community here at ESCC/joining the Society, you lead by example. If you have included the school in your plans, or when you should do so, please let us know. Doing so creates no legal obligation, but simply allows us to say "thank you," and encourages others to follow your lead.

Please also let us know of any gift that you wish to designate for a particular use. Advance planning will help the college observe any restriction in a way that brings satisfaction to all concerned.

To inform the college and the foundation or your gift, or to hear more about giving, please contact Eve Belote, ESCC Foundation Executive Director, at 757-789-1767, or email ebelote@es.vccs.edu.

Source: Vccs

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Discussing Higher Education Opportunities for Men & Women in Uniform

Discussing Higher Education Opportunities for Men & Women in Uniform

Testifying before a congressional hearing, Saint Leo President Dr. Arthur F. Kirk, Jr., shared how the university assists veterans and active-duty military in achieving success in college.

On the 12 ^th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, and during Saint Leo University's 40 ^th anniversary year of educating those who have served our nation, Saint Leo President Dr. Arthur F. Kirk, Jr., affirmed the university's proud commitment to military and veteran education - and shared some of Saint Leo's best practices for meeting the needs of this growing student population - before a congressional subcommittee.

Dr. Kirk testified before the Education & the Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training. The hearing was titled, "Keeping College Within Reach: Supporting Higher Education Opportunities for America's Servicemembers and Veterans." He spoke in support of the national imperative to assist active military servicemembers and veterans in their efforts to obtain post-secondary educations and to support vets with the transition from active duty to civilian life and higher education.

University understands unique challenges vets face.

At the beginning of the hearing, Rep. Virginia Foxx, who chairs the House subcommittee said that with more troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, colleges and universities will face the largest influx of student veterans on campus since World War II.

During his testimony, Dr. Kirk said that during the past academic year, Saint Leo enrolled 5,697 student-veterans and 4,886 active duty military and reservists, comprising nearly 39 percent of the university's student body. The university awarded 1,485 degrees to veterans last year, which is double the number from two years ago.

Dr. Kirk told subcommittee members that Saint Leo began offering full-degree programs on military bases in 1973 and became the first college or university in the nation to grant the bachelor's degree on an Air Force base. Today, the university educates men and women of the armed forces on 16 military bases.

"At Saint Leo, our Veteran Student Services Office works collaboratively with all university departments and community organizations to best meet the needs of our student-veterans in order to ensure them every opportunity to accomplish individual goals."

During his testimony - and in answer to questions from subcommittee members - Dr. Kirk shared numerous examples of efforts at Saint Leo to create a proactive, "veteran-supportive environment":

• Increasing the number of veteran certifying officials from 20 to 52.


• Training faculty and staff in identifying and addressing issues veterans may face in pursuing their education, including how to recognize and respond to post-traumatic stress disorder.


• Implementing a retention alert system so advisors can take a closer look when a student misses classes or receives failing grades and see that appropriate remediation is provided.


• Providing students with a 'road map' to graduation with a clear sequence of courses that is updated every term.


• Offering a mentorship program that connects student-veterans with faculty and staff who are also veterans.


• Ensuring students receive critical financial support from a variety of sources - including programs supported by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs - by participating in Yellow Ribbon, and raising money for private scholarships.


• Initiating a two-step certification proves for VA benefits that makes the process quicker and more manageable for veterans.


• Educating the university community about military culture and veterans' issues.


• Working with local public schools and training university education majors and faculty in dealing with issues faced by children of veterans.


• Conducting training sessions with law enforcement agencies and criminal justice students and faculty regarding issues they may encounter with veterans in their communities.


• Providing flexible online degree programs that fit the mobile lifestyle of military personnel worldwide.

"Many vets choose to attend small institutions."

Dr. Kirk stated that many vets choose to attend small institutions and provided a poignant example of the benefit of the personalized attention that schools such as Saint Leo can provide.

In answer to a question posed by Rep. Joseph Heck about the advantage of streamlining benefits programs for veterans, Dr. Kirk said simplification of benefits and stabilizing requirements is extremely important.

"We are constantly training our people because things are constantly changing and vets can get caught in the middle."

Dr. Kirk told the panel that last summer the university paid short-term rent for veterans who were unable to receive a housing allowance because they did not meet the requirements of full-time students.

"These kinds of changes can throw them way off course."

Pride in serving those who serve.

To conclude his testimony, Dr. Kirk explained to the panel that at the center of the Saint Leo campus stands a 30-foot bronze sculpture of a soldier, sailor, airman, marine and guardsman upholding Lady Liberty as a tribute to all of the university's veteran and military students.

"It's a daily reminder to all of us on campus that their service allows us the freedom to live, learn and teach in peace and security. We take great pride in serving those who serve."

To view archived footage of the hearing, click here.
To read Dr. Kirk's testimony at the hearing, click here.

Source: Saintleo

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Scholarships

PCOM offers three different kinds of scholarships to students:

The PCOM Office of Admissions offers merit scholarships to newly admitted students.

If you are awarded an admissions merit scholarship, you will be notified directly by the PCOM Office of Admissions. You are not required to file a FAFSA to be considered for these merit scholarships and there is no application.

The PCOM Office of Financial Aid awards financial need scholarships to admitted and returning students. You must complete the FAFSA correctly if you wish to be considered for PCOM's financial need scholarships.

You are REQUIRED to post your parent information on the FAFSA if you are age 26 and younger as of December 31, 2012. If you are 27 and older as of January 1, 2013, parent information is NOT required on the FAFSA to be considered for PCOM's financial need scholarships.

There are no separate applications. If you are awarded a financial need scholarship, it will appear on your Nucleus Financial Aid Checklist as part of your financial aid award summary.

You must complete the PCOM Scholarship Application as part of your Nucleus Financial Aid Checklist in order to be considered for all PCOM endowed scholarship funds that have unique criteria.

Also, the PCOM Financial Aid Office is periodically notified of external agency scholarships. By completing the PCOM Scholarship Application on Nucleus, we will specifically notify you of those external agency scholarships that you may apply for.

View our Financial Aid Handbook: Processes and Resources for Financing Your Education (2013-2014) for a list of endowed & external scholarships.

Many of PCOM's endowed scholarships are made available to students through funding from PCOM alumni. If you are awarded a PCOM endowed scholarship, we highly encourage you to write a letter of thanks to the PCOM Alumni Office and/or appropriate scholarship committee.

We recommend utilizing the following websites to search for additional external scholarships that may be available for graduate and medical students:

The United States Army, Navy, and Air Force offer prospective military physicians, physician assistants, clinical psychologists, and pharmacists a paid medical education in exchange for service as a commissioned medical department officer. Eligibility is for U.S. citizens based on academic performance, recommendations, and physical requirements. The Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) provides funding for a monthly stipend, tuition and fees, books and instruments. In return for the scholarship, recipients are obligated to give one year of service for each year of support (minimum two years of service). Recipients will be required to spend 45 days on active duty each year while in school (usually on weekends). Click on a link below for additional information:

Army - Health Professions Scholarship Program Navy - Health Professions Scholarship Program Air Force - Health Professions Scholarship Program

HPSP opportunities are not offered by the United States Marine Corps, since it receives its medical services from the U.S. Navy.

PCOM participates in the Veteran's Administration Yellow Ribbon program.

Students who are eligible to receive VA benefits under the Post-9/11 GI bill may be considered to receive additional funds from PCOM under this program.

Eligible students should submit their certification of eligibility to the PCOM Office of the Registrar.

As there is a limited number of Yellow Ribbon scholarships, the awarding will be based on when the certification of eligibility is received. A maximum of 10 awards will be made to graduate students, and a maximum of 10 awards will be made to medical students.

Tuition and fees paid under the Post-9/11 is capped at $17,500 or the appropriately reduced amount based on your eligibility percentage for the academic year.

For further information regarding Post-9/11 or other chapters, please contact:

Source: Pcom

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