Donations to an endowed scholarship are invested, and awards are distributed from the investment income. This means that the award lives on in perpetuity and can provide financial support for generations of Panola College students.

• Setting up an endowment can happen for as little as $278 a month.
• Work with the Institutional Advancement office to develop criteria for selecting your scholarship recipient, such as major or financial need.
• Enjoy reading the thank you letter from your scholarship recipient each year.

Faculty and staff at Panola College are encouraged each year to apply for grants towards projects that allows for the pursuit of high-quality, imaginative, and innovative improvement of student success. Grants could be for students’ educational experiences or program enhancements, such as equipment and supply purchases.

• A donor may establish a named endowment at a minimum funding level of $10,000. The donor(s) may accumulate the endowment gift over a three-year period with earnings during the accumulation period to be added to the corpus. Earnings during the accumulation period may not be used to reduce the donors’ commitment to fund the endowment at the minimum level. Once funded, earnings will be distributed both to make awards under terms of the Donor Agreement and to increase the corpus of the endowment as allowed by economic conditions and existing board policies.
   
• Upon receiving a minimum of $10,000, Panola College will permanently endow a scholarship for the donor(s). Guidelines for the use of the endowment will be agreed upon and a Panola College Donor Agreement will be completed in the Office of Institutional Advancement.
   
• At the end of 36 months, if a scholarship is not fully endowed, monies already donated will be transferred to the general permanent endowment fund and the intent to endow the scholarship will be voided.
   
• The donor establishing an endowed scholarship has the following options in specifying certain criteria for the selection of an award recipient. A donor may specify that:
  • a preference among equally qualified applicants is given for recipient selection. However, Panola College Board and Foundation policies prohibit discrimination against recipients being considered for an award on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, veteran status, or disability.
  • selection of a recipient is tied to a recipient’s academic performance, financial need, or geographic area of residence.
  • applicant eligibility is limited to an employer’s employees and their spouses or dependents provided that the final selection of recipient is made in accordance with policies of Panola College and the Panola College Foundation.
  • a recipient is a student in a particular Panola College department or area of study.
  • a recipient has completed a specified number of semester hours of college work.
  • a recipient has a minimum required grade point average.
  • eligibility be limited to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
     
• Once a scholarship has been permanently endowed, publicity regarding the scholarship will be released to the public.
   
• Donors may recommend or suggest scholarship recipients. However, the Internal Revenue Service will not recognize a contribution for a charitable tax deduction if the donor retains control over the gift funds or how they are used.  Therefore, a donor may not participate in the selection of scholarship or award recipients, name a non-Panola College employee to the scholarship committee, or structure the criteria so narrowly as to limit the selection to a small population comprised solely or primarily of individuals related to the donor or that the donor would choose without this restriction.
   
• The Panola College Scholarship Committee will make the final recipient selection. Recipient selection will be based upon the requirements listed on the Panola College Donor Agreement.
   
• The Panola College Investment Policy is approved by the Board of Trustees, regulated by the State of Texas, and is designed to preserve the endowment. Any specific directions on how you may want to invest the endowment should be made to the Dean of Fiscal Affairs when the endowment is funded.
   
• If in the judgment of the Office of Institutional Advancement, future circumstances change, so that the purpose for which the endowment is established becomes illegal, impractical, or so that the purpose no longer meets the needs of Panola College, an alternative use for the endowment to further the objective of Panola College may be established, in the spirit of the donor’s original intent.