Keep strong students from dropping out.

Sometimes the unexpected happens, and even the most careful preparation and planning is upended. Students in good standing are hit with a financial emergency or challenge, and suddenly the college costs they had budgeted are more than they can handle.

The Student Momentum Fund is designed to help people in that situation, where a change in financial circumstances puts them at risk of being forced to withdraw. Instead, campus leaders can help those deserving students who otherwise might be unable to meet their financial obligations.

Your support of the Student Momentum Fund helps students like these complete their studies at RMU so they can go on to great jobs and great lives.

I cannot thank the scholarship donors enough for allowing me to live my dream.

Daniel Pollack '20
Law school student at Duquesne
Louis Swartz and RMU Pre-Law Society Scholarship

While majoring in political science at RMU, Dan began to realize his true ambition was to become an attorney. But paying for college was already a significant challenge, and the fear of big law school tuition bills kept him up nights.

A scholarship funded by one of his professors helped to reduce the cost of Dan’s senior year so he could focus. That same professor also helped Dan ace the LSAT and win a scholarship from Duquesne, where he is now finishing up law school while interning at a legal firm.

His younger sister decided to come to RMU too, so Dan is always eager to come for a visit to his alma mater. “My heart’s with Robert Morris,” he says.

As a single mother, there isn't much room for extra expenses. This scholarship took me over that hurdle and placed me at the finish line of my education.

Mary Pardue '19
Senior engineer at Fresenius Kabi USA
Teresa Scheetz Endowed Scholarship

Mary’s college journey is unlike most. A single mother with two children, one of which has special needs, Mary started school in her 30s. After a couple years at community college, she transferred to RMU to study biomedical engineering, hoping to work in a field with medical applications.

Though she was working part time while going to class and caring for her kids, the bills began piling up higher than ever before. Mary was grateful her senior year to receive a scholarship that helped her to clear that financial obstacle and make it to the finish line of her education. 

Shortly after earning her diploma, Mary landed a full-time engineering position at the local office of Fresenius Kabi, a German pharmaceutical company. She already has received two promotions at the company and is currently working as a senior product/sustaining engineer.