The Legacy Trust Scholarship Program

Student scholarship support remains one of the most important, and ever-present, institutional needs. Making a Luther education affordable is essential for recruiting students, and scholarship assistance is often the deciding factor. 99 percent of our students receive financial aid, and 75 percent work on campus and in our community to meet their college costs. In 2021–21, Luther provided $58 million in student aid from college funds, with 12 percent of that total aid being donor-funded through endowed and annual scholarships. With additional donor support, we seek to grow this percentage, enabling the college’s general operating budget to be allocated for other priorities supporting the student learning experience.

The Legacy Trust was established in 1986 in connection with the 125th anniversary of the college. The initial objective was to add at least $250,000 to Luther’s scholarship endowment fund each year. Response to the program has been extraordinary over the years, with more than $110 million in cash and planned gifts raised. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, Luther students—most of whom could not otherwise afford to be here—now benefit from more than 925 scholarships that have been established at Luther. As we look ahead, scholarship support remains critical as students search for ways to meet the rising costs of higher education. You can help ensure a quality education for our students by establishing a scholarship through the Legacy Trust program.

• Annual Scholarships
• Endowed Scholarships
• Promise Scholarships
• Access and Opportunity Scholarships

The Legacy Trust Scholarship Program recognizes donors who have established annual or endowed scholarships.