Record $675,000 raised for student scholarships at annual fundraiser honoring John Ratzenberger, Deborah Norville and Anthony J. Cernera

Sacred Heart University has announced that full-time undergraduate students with family income below $50,000 who are admitted to SHU from Fairfield County high schools will be provided a tuition-free education beginning with the 2008-2009 academic year.

Dr. Cernera announces the tuition-free program at the Discovery Awards Dinner held on April 16.

According to the University’s president, Dr. Anthony J. Cernera, “Sacred Heart was founded 45 years ago to offer men and women, primarily in Fairfield County, access to a first-rate education in the Catholic tradition that was both accessible and affordable. I announce the strengthening of this historic commitment with a strong conviction that all students deserve access to higher education.”

The formal announcement was made April 16 at the University’s annual scholarship event, the 19^th annual Discovery Awards and Scholarship Dinner, held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. Over nearly two decades, the dinner has realized millions of dollars for student financial assistance. Proceeds from this event complement the overall $23 million that the University currently provides students in the form of scholarships, grants and work-study programs.

This year’s dinner raised over $675,000 for the University’s scholarship fund. According to Dr. Cernera, this year’s and future proceeds from the event will be used to help support this new program. “Thanks to each one of you, and good friends like you, we will be able to carry on a noble tradition so closely related to our mission and our history,” said Dr. Cernera.

Dr. Cernera, center, stands with scholarship students during the Discovery Awards Dinner held April 16.

James Barquinero, SHU vice president for Enrollment Planning and Student Affairs, noted that t uition for full-time undergraduates is currently $26,950. “That the University is willing to meet those expenses in full says something important about the values we stand by—to provide access, opportunity and an exceptional liberal arts education to prepare our students to live in and make their contributions to the human community.

“In recent years,” he added, “SHU has been recognized by such guides as U.S. News & World Report and the Princeton Review both for its academic excellence and the fullness of its campus experience. The University is enriched by a diverse student body, and that diversity is not just the product of geography and gender, of race and religion – it includes economic background as well.”

For more details, visit www.sacredheart.edu/TuitionFreePlan.cfm

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About Sacred Heart University

Sacred Heart University, the second-largest Catholic university in New England, offers more than 40 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs on its main campus in Fairfield, Connecticut, and satellites in Connecticut, Luxembourg and Ireland. Approximately 5,800 students attend the University’s four colleges: Arts & Sciences; Education & Health Professions; University College; and the AACSB-accredited John F. (Jack) Welch College of Business. The Princeton Review includes SHU in its “Best 366 Colleges: 2008,” U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges 2008” ranks SHU among the best master’s universities in the North, and Intel rates it #11 among the nation’s most “unwired” campuses. SHU fields 32 division I athletic teams, and has an award-winning program of community service. www.sacredheart.edu

For additional Sacred Heart University news, please visit http://www.sacredheart.edu/pressroom.cfm.

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