Brown Foundation Awards $1 Million to Pine Manor
College To Support Affordable Education Initiative
March 9, 2000
Chestnut Hill, Mass.-Responding to the challenge faced by
many women to obtain responsibly-priced, quality higher education,
the Brown Foundation has awarded a $1 million grant to Pine Manor
College's Fund for Affordable Education.
In 1998 PMC used an alumna's unrestricted $4 million bequest to
establish the Fund for Affordable Education and implement a 34 percent
reduction in tuition, saving each student $5,700 per year and providing
one of the lowest tuition rates among private, nonsectarian, four-year
women's colleges in the country. Dr. Maconda Brown O'Connor, president
of the Houston-based Brown Foundation and a PMC alumna, said the
grant "recognizes Pine Manor's outstanding leadership in reaching
out to families who are struggling to pay for a college education
for their daughters. The grant is an investment in the future for
women."
The College will designate part of the award to the memory of Margaret
Wiess Elkins '42. A life-long Houston resident, Ms. Elkins was actively
involved in numerous cultural and civic organizations, and was a
generous benefactor of Pine Manor College. Each year, several Pine
Manor students will be selected for Margaret Elkins Leadership Scholarships
in recognition of their significant contributions to community service.
In addition to the tuition cut, PMC's mission of inclusive leadership
and social responsibility has been enhanced by several other new
initiatives in the past three years. The College has increased efforts
to recruit more students from diverse ethnic and social backgrounds -- one
third of the currently enrolled students are women of color‹and
has refocused its liberal arts curriculum around portfolio assessment
and specific learning outcomes. PMC has also developed partnerships
with local agencies and public schools to address youth development
issues, health care delivery to underserved populations and entrepreneurship
opportunities for women.
For the second, consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report's
America's Best Colleges ranked Pine Manor College among the top
10 liberal arts colleges in the North with the most diverse student
populations.
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Pine Manor College is a four-year institution with an 89-year tradition
of helping women become inclusive, socially responsible leaders
in their workplaces, communities and families.
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