University of Pennsylvania Awarded $10M to Help Int’l Undergraduate Students

The University of Pennsylvania has received a donation of $10 million from alumni Daniel and Brett Sundheim, to support its international undergraduate students, the university has announced.

In a media release issued on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, the school said that the gift would be used to establish the Sundheim International Scholars Fund and the Sundheim Penn First Plus International Opportunity Fund at the university’s School of Arts & Sciences, Erudera.com reports.

Commenting on the donation, Penn President Liz Magill said that the school’s main priority is to attract international students and provide the necessary resources for them to succeed regardless of their income.

“We are extraordinarily grateful to Brett and Dan Sundheim for their shared commitment to increasing educational access and the impact they will have on generations of students,” Magill said.

The largest part of the donation, a total of $9 million, will be used to create the Sundheim International Scholars Fund and offer scholarships to international students enrolled at Arts and Sciences School. To be eligible for the aid, students should prove their financial need.

The remaining $1 million will be used to establish the Sundheim Penn First Plus International Opportunity Fund, which will complete the scholars’ program by providing extra resources for international students studying at the college.

Brett Sundheim expressed delight in making this gift to Penn and said that together with Daniel, they have always known the power of scholarships as a way to change the lives of others, as well as the diversity that international students bring to the community.

“We are delighted that, starting in September, the first international Sundheim Scholars will receive student financial aid that will make their Penn education not only possible, but also less stressful and therefore even more rewarding,” she said.

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Despite the significant financial aid, Daniel Sundheim claims that certain elements of Penn’s undergraduate experience continue to be out of reach for supported students. That’s why, according to him, the Sundheim P1P International Opportunity Fund was established.

Daniel and Brett Sundheim have actively engaged as Penn alumni for more than ten years.

There are 28,201 students at the University of Pennsylvania as of fall 2022, of whom 23,559 are full-time, and 4,642 are part-time. More than 10,000 students are full-time undergraduates, and more than 13,000 are full-time graduates/professionals.

The university is popular among international students as well. For fall 2022, 12,222 international students applied to study at Penn, but only 3.5 percent, or 431 received offers of admission.

Penn enrolled nearly 7,000 international students across all academic levels during the fall semester of last year.

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