ACT Donates $2 Million for Kirkwood Scholarships

Gift for students pursuing STEM

ACT Inc. has committed $2 million to establish an endowed ACT Scholarship Fund at Kirkwood Community College. The major gift through the Kirkwood Foundation will ensure substantial funds for students pursuing studies and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics areas.

ACT Chairman and CEO Dick Ferguson noted the long, wide-ranging partnership between Kirkwood and the company in sharing news of the gift.

"We are proud and delighted to make this commitment to student scholarship and success, with an esteemed partner college who shares our spirit of excellence," he said in a press release. "Our ACT staff has benefitted from Kirkwood training and many of our employees are Kirkwood graduates. We hope this commitment will play an important role in the future of student success and economic vitality in Iowa."

Kirkwood President Mick Starcevich said the ACT marked "one of the brightest days ever" for the college.

"I am nearly speechless with this news, this wonderful vote of support for Kirkwood and our mission," he said in a press release. "The ACT endowment is our single largest gift and will mean many opportunities for students for generations to come."

Since 2005 Kirkwood has been a partner with ACT in implementing the National Career Readiness Certificate/Iowa Career Readiness Certificate, with 145 employers involved in the region. More than 3,000 certificates have been awarded to individual employees since the program's inception at Kirkwood.

The NCRC/ICRC is a national and state system, a comprehensive employment tool that links qualified individuals with employers who recognize the value of skilled job applicants and employees.

Last October, ACT gave $5 million to the University of Iowa Foundation to endow the ACT Scholars Program, which supports development of selected UI graduate students as the next generation of innovators in the field that ACT leads.