This article was originally reported in October 2025.
The A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation committed an additional $11 million to the Clark Scholars Program in Penn State‘s College of Engineering, Penn State announced on October 17, 2025. The gift endows the program so that it can support ten new undergraduate engineering majors every year in perpetuity (Penn State News, October 17, 2025).
What the gift funds
- Scholarships: Clark Scholars awards cover full tuition, fees, room and board, and curricular enrichment.
- Program support ($10 million): a full-time staff administrator, tuition assistance, study abroad funding, leadership and professional development, alumni events and tutoring.
- Philanthropy Challenge ($1 million): a new endowed fund whose income scholars and the program’s leadership use for annual gifts to local causes. “Giving back to the community early on in adulthood will hopefully instill the lifelong value” of philanthropy, said Tonya L. Peeples, the Harold and Inge Marcus Dean of Engineering.
Penn State joined the Clark Scholars Program network in 2020 as its newest member university, and its first class of Clark Scholars graduated in May 2024.
How the program works
Beyond the scholarship, Clark Scholars take part in a Global Experience trip in their first or second year. Earlier cohorts traveled to Peru and worked with students at the Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería; a trip to Costa Rica and individual travel opportunities were planned next. The program also gives stipends and housing support for summer co-ops and internships.
Industrial engineering major Jessi Altiero, a fourth-year Clark Scholar, used program funds for summer housing during a co-op with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and planned to join the NRC’s Resident Inspector Development Program after graduating. She called the Peru trip “an immersive trip that broadened my worldview as an engineer.” Lauren Griggs, director of the Multicultural Engineering Program and the Clark Scholars Program, said the new investment “creates additional capacity to enhance the experience of the Clark Scholars” (Penn State News).
Who can be selected
There is no separate scholarship application. According to the College of Engineering, candidates are incoming first-year students identified through their application to Penn State, and selection considers demonstrated financial need, high achievement in high school courses, involvement in pre-college STEM activities or Penn State pre-college programs, and hard work supporting self, family and community. Standardized test scores are not used. Selected students receive an engineering equity scholarship and become finalists for the Clark award (Penn State College of Engineering, Clark Scholars eligibility).
Notes for international students
- Ask before counting on it: the eligibility page does not say whether international students can be considered or how financial need is measured. International applicants interested in need-based engineering scholarships should ask the College of Engineering and Penn State’s Office of Student Aid directly.
- Cost: IPEDS lists 2025–26 undergraduate tuition and fees at Penn State of $20,644 for Pennsylvania residents and $41,790 for out-of-state students, plus about $14,474 for room and board. Penn State charges different rates by campus, major and year of study, so check the bursar’s tuition tables for engineering.
- Size and admission: according to IPEDS, Penn State’s University Park campus admitted about 61% of 88,478 first-year applicants for fall 2025. Of 50,737 students that fall, 7,539 were international (3,989 undergraduates).
- Work after graduation: engineering degrees are generally on the DHS STEM list, which lets eligible F-1 graduates add a 24-month STEM OPT extension (DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List).
- Ranking: Penn State is No. 55 among national universities in the 2027 U.S. News ranking (Forward Pathway, U.S. college rankings). See our Penn State profile for more data.