Unrestricted gifts to the College or Departmental Annual Fund help create an environment that fuels innovation and growth. These gifts provide for the most immediate needs of the college and have an immediate impact on students, faculty, and programs. Unrestrictive gifts allow us to: 

Bring industry professionals to campus
Support student travel and research activities
Provide technology upgrades and implement curriculum innovations
Assist students and faculty in national conferences and programs
Help students pursue study abroad opportunities

Support of students is our greatest priority. Scholarships are essential to attract the most talented students within the state, across the country, and around the world. We must then provide them with the real-world experiences—including internships and industry immersion trips—that they need for successful careers.

You can help support our students through a named scholarship, or by contributing to an existing scholarship or fellowship fund such as: 

College of Media Endowed Scholarship Fund
Department of Advertising Annual Fund 
Department of Journalism Scholarship Fund
Media Underrepresented Scholarship Fund
Brett Lerner Memorial Scholarship in Journalism Fund
Cardiss Collins Scholarship for Advertising Studies Fund 
Daily Illini Journalism Scholarship Fund
Dana M. Ewell Memorial Fund
David Shaul Endowed Scholarship in Journalism Fund
Iris Chang Journalism Award Fund
John R. Foreman Endowment Fund
Charla Krupp Journalism Student Support Fund 
Jenny Lenzini Memorial Scholarship Fund 
Ian Fleming Foundation Undergraduate Research Scholarship

See the full list of scholarship and fellowship funds.

Minimum named scholarship: $25,000
Minimum named graduate fellowship: $250,000
Gifts of any size are welcome in the department scholarship funds and/or existing endowed funds

College of Media Innovation Fund

This fund supports a range of innovative activities that celebrate faculty excellence, faculty and student research, technology advancements, and cutting-edge pedagogy. In short, these are the sorts of activities that are the hallmark of what the College of Media does as one of the very top programs for the study of media at one of the best universities in the world.

Support transformational research

Support cutting-edge courses, curricula, faculty research, industry collaborations, and student activities that will foster greater discovery and transform the delivery of content. Minimum research fund: $200,000

Endowed chairs and professorships represent the highest honors the University can provide to distinguished faculty members, and help to attract and retain exceptional scholars. These scholars, in turn, help to create educational experiences that enrich the lives of our students.

James W. Carey Fund for Faculty Excellence (established 2020 in honor of the former College of Media dean and ICR director)

Minimum named faculty scholar: $250,000
Minimum named professorship: $500,000
Minimum named chair: $2,000,000