Gifts to Park Scholarships To Be Matched in Partnership With Stamps Scholars Program

NC State has entered into a new partnership with the Stamps Scholars Program, uniting two renowned, merit-based scholarship communities focused on fostering leadership, service, academic excellence and character. With this agreement, the Stamps Scholars Program will match all new current-use and endowment income gifts to the Park Scholarships program, providing these scholarships with an important new source of support and creating an inspiring opportunity for donors to see their gifts have a greater impact.

The university joins 36 Stamps partner institutions nationwide, including the Georgia Institute of Technology, Purdue University, the University of Arizona, the University of Michigan and Virginia Tech. 

E. Roe Stamps and his late wife Penny created the Stamps Scholars Program in 2006 to help connect promising students with exceptional educational experiences — much like the Park Scholarships program. This year, 373 students across partner campuses joined the Stamps Scholars community.

“The Stamps Scholars Program, just like the Park Scholarships, has opened doors to incredible opportunities for promising students throughout the nation. They understand the importance and life-changing value of higher education,” said Chancellor Randy Woodson.

While this new partnership helps chart an even bolder course for the Park Scholarship program’s future, it has a special tie to the past: E. Roe Stamps’ grandfather, E.R. Stamps Jr., graduated from NC State in 1903.

The Stamps Scholars Program partnership will begin with the cohort to be selected in March 2025, the Class of 2029, who will also have the distinction of being the 30th class of Park Scholars at NC State. This class will include 10 students who will be both Stamps Scholars and Park Scholars, with support for their scholarships coming from Stamps and from NC State. The total incoming cohort will include approximately 38 students selected from more than 2,500 applications.

“When the Park Foundation made their record-setting commitment to begin the program’s endowment in 2013, one of their top goals was to inspire others to join in. Alumni and friends have responded in incredible ways. Now, gifts will go even further, as the Stamps Scholars Program match will also encourage donors to invest in scholarships,” said Eva Feucht ‘02, director of the Park Scholarships program and program alumna.

Donor support, including the Park Foundation’s lead endowment gift and grants, has been critical to the program’s success. To date, approximately 2,000 donors have made gifts to benefit Park Scholarships, including 31 endowments and other funds dedicated to ensuring the program’s signature opportunities and educational funding remain sustainable for generations to come.

“We are excited to work with donors who are interested in leveraging the Stamp Scholars Program’s generous matching funds,” said Feucht. “As we approach our 30th anniversary, we see that scholars are making a meaningful difference for many people beyond themselves. An investment in them is an investment in the future.”

The Park Scholarships program has garnered an outstanding national reputation since it was created in 1996, attracting students from all over the country and beyond to come to NC State. The program’s more than 1,100 alumni contribute to state and federal government, health care, cutting-edge science and technology, non-profits, business and entrepreneurship, education, and many more fields. 

Each year, approximately 150 Park Scholars across four classes hone the program’s tenet skills of scholarship, leadership, character and service. These students leverage their program experiences to make an impact on campus and in their communities through activities like international service trips, taking lead roles in campus organizations, conducting innovative research and voter advocacy.

Park Scholars have been selected for honors including Boren Scholars, Churchill Scholars, Fulbright Awards, Goldwater Scholars, Knight-Hennessy Scholars and Payne Fellowships, and the Stamps Scholars Program has a similar track record of achievement. 

“I’ve been aware of the Park Scholarships program since it was created. Its talented and dedicated staff over the years have developed it into a positive force for NC State. Their comprehensive and strategic efforts to attract and enroll outstanding students have led Park to be one of the premier scholarship programs in the country,” said Randy McDow, executive director of the Stamps Scholars Program.

The 10 scholars supported through this partnership will be known as both Stamps Scholars and Park Scholars, though the name reflects the only change. All students in the program will participate in the scholarship’s foundational experiences, which include Learning Labs, faculty mentoring, leadership development, access to grants for enrichment opportunities like study abroad and undergraduate research, and a robust community of fellow students ready to learn from each other’s different backgrounds and perspectives.

For more information about leveraging the Stamps Scholars Program’s matching opportunities within the Park Scholarships program, contact Stephanie Bunn.