A $50,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges (OFIC) will support programs on five OFIC member campuses aimed at recruiting minority students.

The University of Dayton, Lourdes College, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Ohio Northern University, and Otterbein College were granted funding through a competitive proposal submission process. Their proposed programs were designed to increase the number of minority students who are recruited, accepted, and succeed at OFIC member institutions and will be carried out in collaboration with local school districts, community colleges and college access programs. Project programs will be developed and implemented through the summer of 2009 and the 2009-2010 academic year to affect acceptance and enrollment rates for Fall 2011.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., a 55-year donor to OFIC with a cumulative giving total of nearly $1.4 million, has supported OFIC’s diversity initiatives since their inception in 2003. “Learning in a diverse environment surrounded by people with differing perspectives and backgrounds enriches the educational experience,” said Jeff Lyttle, Midwest Region Vice President of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. “We hope our long-time support for this program has enabled Ohio’s independent colleges to fund the important work of recruiting a diverse group of students to their campuses.”

It has always been an integral part of the mission of Ohio’s independent colleges to provide higher education to students from all socio-economic backgrounds, and efforts are ongoing to increase diversity on their campuses. These colleges register 33% of all Ohio students enrolled in 4-year degree programs, yet they grant 37% of all degrees earned by minority students.

OFIC is the primary corporate and foundation solicitation organization for 34 independent Ohio colleges and universities and operates one of the largest, most comprehensive and diverse scholarship management services in the state. OFIC member colleges collectively enroll nearly 97,000 students and award one-third of all bachelor’s degrees in the state. For 59 years OFIC has worked to highlight the leadership, value and excellence of independent higher education and has provided unrestricted operating funds and scholarship commitments through funds raised in annual solicitations of businesses and foundations, thereby assuring continuation of excellence in private higher education. OFIC is governed by a Board of Trustees comprised of Ohio’s corporate leaders, as well as presidents of the 34 member colleges.

The member colleges are: Ashland University, Baldwin-Wallace College, Bluffton University, Capital University, Cedarville University, University of Dayton, Defiance College, Denison University, The University of Findlay, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Franklin University, Heidelberg University, Hiram College, John Carroll University, Kenyon College, Lake Erie College, Lourdes College, Malone University, Marietta College, Mount Union College, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Muskingum University, Notre Dame College, Oberlin College, Ohio Dominican University, Ohio Northern University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Otterbein College, Urbana University, Ursuline College, Walsh University, Wilmington College, Wittenberg University and The College of Wooster.