over 475
scholarships awarded
100%
graduation rate
49
years helping students
The Carol E. Macpherson Memorial Scholarship Fund is a private family scholarship founded in 1975 to help returning women students succeed. Scholarships are provided to promising, motivated women-identified students who have a five–year or longer accumulative gap in their post-secondary education, and are seeking an undergraduate or graduate degree (Full or Half time) from a Minnesota higher education institution. Apply here.
Celebrating its 47th anniversary this year, the fund has provided scholarships for over 400 women with a 100% graduation rate.
Our work
The Carol E. Macpherson Memorial Scholarship was established to assist women who, like Carol, are seekers. It memorializes Carol’s undying concern for fairness, for providing opportunities for women to find new paths, for the value of a thinking mind to ask difficult questions, and for respecting the nurturing roles women continue to play even as they take on various new responsibilities in their families and communities. Carol would be pleased to learn of the extraordinary accomplishments of Macpherson scholarship seekers and would applaud the adversities they overcome to pursue education and a better life.
Read Scholars' Stories →
“As a single mother of two children when I went back to school, financial support was critical to being able to accomplish my educational goals. The scholarship I received helped supplement my part–time work and student loans and reduced the burden on my family. Less tangibly but equally as important, the scholarship boosted my confidence in my choice to go back to school because it validated my experience. Few such scholarships for non–traditional students exist, and that sends a subtle negative message to potential students. The Carol E. Macpherson Scholarship sent a clear positive message about my educational journey, and helped transform my life.”
