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Vision  |  What We Do  |  Why We Need Your Help  |  Annual Scholarship Cost per Student-Athlete

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Vision
The Z-Fund is the lifeblood of Akron Athletics. Your gift directly impacts nearly 450 student-athletes, our coaches and their programs, both on the field and in the classroom.

• Your $250 gift pays for a new uniform for a student-athlete.
• Your $1,000 gift allows an Akron coach to go on an extra trip to recruit the student-athlete that every other school is after.
• Your $5,000 gift pays for room & board for one semester for a student-athlete.
• Your $10,000 gift pays for an out-of-state tuition for one semester for a student-athlete.
• Your $25,000 gift nearly pays for an out-of-state tuition and fees & board for a year for a student-athlete.

As Akron Athletics continues to grow in size and national prominence, the need to enhance budgets and fund scholarships is greater than ever. The Z-Fund exists to allow this growth and provides the resources to compete for championships. By becoming a member of the Z-Fund, you play a vital role in the success of Akron Athletics and its student-athletes. Each year, our goal is to provide our student-athletes the best collegiate experience on and off the field of play, and prepare them for their future. We need your help in doing so.

What We Do…
The Z-Fund is the fund-raising organization of Akron Athletics and provides financial support for all athletic scholarships, academic affairs, summer school, facilities, and operational needs of the athletics department. Donors to the Z-Fund include former student-athletes, parents, alumni, fans, friends, and businesses that recognize the value of the intercollegiate athletics experience and enthusiastically provide support in a variety of ways.

The Z-Fund is dedicated to maintaining a championship level athletics program at The University of Akron. Through the generosity of loyal donors our goals are to:

• Fully endow the maximum number of scholarships that the NCAA allows for its 19 varsity teams.
• Fully support the operational expenses of the Academic Affairs program to provide individualized academic support to all student-athletes.
• Provide summer school opportunities for student-athletes.
• Support the operational needs of the athletics program that include recruiting costs, team travel, equipment and athletic training.
• Raise funds for the renovation of existing facilities and all new athletics facilities.

Why We Need Your Help?
There are many benefits of being a donor to the Z-Fund. One of the most important is providing a quality education to student-athletes participating in one of The University of Akron’s 19 athletic programs. Your contribution plays a direct role in continuing our tradition of excellence and ensuring our future success.

Athletic competition and athletic success is important to The University of Akron. Financial stability in athletics ultimately breeds success, and success breeds pride among our many alumni and friends. Studies have shown that winning – more importantly, winning the “right way” (in compliance with NCAA rules and with great team effort) – can be a tremendous recruiting tool for the general student population as well as for potential student-athletes. In addition, athletic accomplishments often provide an invaluable public relations “advertisement” for The University of Akron and Northeast Ohio while also serving as a catalyst for philanthropy to all areas of the University.

The Z-Fund is the sole fund-raising vehicle for Akron Athletics. Through its annual fund drive, the Z-Fund raises contributions in support of student-athlete summer school scholarships. The long term goal of the Z-Fund is to fund all of The University of Akron’s athletic scholarships on an annual basis. With the escalating tuition costs, support of student-athlete scholarships is more important than ever. To continue to provide more than 450 Zips student-athletes with the resources they need takes help from every member of the community who is able to give.

Season ticket sales, sponsorships, advertising, and student fees are not enough to adequately support the total intercollegiate athletics program. Rising scholarship cost, escalating team travel expenses, and the need for modern facilities require that new sources of revenue be discovered. With your help we will continue to work to reach our goal of endowing all athletic scholarships, in turn, allowing us to continue to invest in our programs for them to remain competitive nationally.

The Z-Fund is very pleased with our recent success and the generosity of our contributors, but we have a long way to go before we reach our goal. As you can see from the information below we must continue to work to increase our membership and financial support for The University of Akron Athletic Department.

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Annual Scholarship Cost per Student-Athlete:

The cost of our 450 student-athletes’ scholarships increase each year. The estimated costs of those scholarships include the following components:

Tuition & Fees	$9,929	(in-state)
	$18,400	(out-of-state)
Room & Board (on campus):	$10,768
Living Allowance (off campus):	$9,838
Books:	$400
Total Scholarship	$21,097	(in-state on-campus)
	$20,167	(in-state off-campus)
	$29,658	(out-of-state on-campus)
	$28,638	(out-of-state off-campus)

Additional services provided to each student-athlete:

• Academic Services: Provides tutoring, review sessions, mentoring, enhanced learning programs, etc.
• Life Skills: Programs structured to prepare Akron student-athletes for life after college through personal/career development

Academic Services & Life Skills: $1,156.35 per student-athlete

Total Department of Athletics Scholarship Cost: $7,300,000

As part of the University, the Z-Fund is a tax exempt, charitable organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. As such, gifts to the Z-Fund are eligible for deduction by donors according to current tax laws. For federal income tax purposes, the deductible amount of a charitable contribution is reduced by the value of the benefits received by the donor from the charitable organization.

*Please consult your tax professional regarding your contribution.