Students & Scholarship Support

U-M’s longest-serving president, James Burrill Angell, once said that there can never be a surplus of wisdom and true learning. “We need all the intelligence, all the trained minds we can have,” he reflected in his 1879 commencement address. “Of strong, well-balanced, well-furnished minds we cannot have too many… They are the true riches of the nation.”

Angell knew that higher education must be accessible to all, not only for the benefit of those scholars of humble origins, but for the benefit of all society. More than a century following Angell’s death, students remain U-M’s highest priority. As the leading public research university in the world today, Michigan is uniquely positioned to offer students a world-class education that rivals any private institution. In keeping with its longstanding ethos—the uncommon education for the common person—it remains Michigan’s foundational mission to make that experience accessible for all.

At the outset of the Victors for Michigan campaign, students and scholarship support were cemented as the campaign’s No. 1 fundraising priority. The campaign’s highest edict was to guarantee that a diverse group of the world’s brightest students can study, thrive, and learn to lead at Michigan. Donors met that charge by shattering existing records, contributing more than $1.22 billion towards student support. Together, you helped pave the way for tomorrow’s victors. The next generation of artists, healers, entrepreneurs, and athletes call Michigan home thanks to your generosity. Angell believed that all the world’s sons and daughters should have the opportunity to be a part of something greater than themselves—to come as they were, and leave as leaders and best. Thanks to you, that vision continues to come to life for thousands of aspiring young minds.