There are many ways to contribute to the Cyrus of Persia scholarships at Northeastern Illinois University. We invite you to explore these options and to connect with us for more information.
Establish an annually-funded Cyrus of Persia Scholarship in Your Family’s Name
With your outright gift or pledge of $60,000, you can establish a four-year, expendable scholarship that you name for yourself, your family or a loved one. Your scholarship recipient would receive $15,000 / year to provide four years of education by covering that student’s expenses for tuition, fees, and books. After this four year period, the scholarship would conclude.
The annual scholarship is then awarded over that time-frame, whether to new recipients each year or potentially to the same recipient in support over the course of their academic progress. Annual scholarships rely on the donor’s annual contributions, or in some cases, annual scholarships are created from a larger one-time gift that is spent down over the course of four or more years.
Contribute to the General Cyrus of Persia Scholarship Fund
You have the opportunity to join other supporters from across the country to create a critical difference for a student and to honor Cyrus the Great. Your gift will be pooled with others to create a four-year, annual scholarship opportunity.
Establish a Cyrus of Persia Scholarship Endowment in Your Family’s Name
You can create a transformational, permanent source of support for NEIU students through your gift to establish a full ride scholarship in the name of Cyrus of Persia. Your total gift will be invested by the NEIU Foundation in order to produce income while preserving the fund’s principal over time. From careful investment and calculated annual drawdown of interest income and realized gains, endowed funds provide annual awards in perpetuity. If this is of interest to you, please contact Liesl Downey l-downey@neiu.edu or Mateo Farzaneh at m-farzaneh@neiu.edu.
The NEIU Foundation is home to the first Endowed Cyrus of Persia Scholarship, established by the Farzaneh family of Oklahoma. We seek to build additional opportunities in the name of Cyrus of Persia via endowed scholarships.
There are many ways to realize a gift that supports this effort. For more information on opportunities shared above or to explore other options, please contact Liesl Downey, Vice President for Institutional Advancement at l-downey@neiu.edu or Professor Mateo Farzaneh at m-farzaneh@neiu.edu.
