It's a sad but true reality of higher education. Every year, many academically eligible and motivated students must postpone or forego the opportunity to earn a college degree because they can't afford to pay for it and there aren't enough scholarships to go around.

U of L President John W. Shumaker has focused attention on the critical need to increase scholarship funding in order to meet the goals of the 10-year Challenge for Excellence university-wide academic improvement program.

One of the university's goals is to ensure that any academically eligible student who begins a program of study at U of L will be financially able to finish that degree, Shumaker says.

"Students who are performing well academically should not be forced to leave solely because of economics," he says. "Once a student is on campus and part of the U of L family, we are committed to finding every means of support to help that student complete his or her degree."

Shumaker notes that scholarships also help the university attract top high school students who are weighing substantial offers from several universities.

Scholarship funds come from several sources: state funds, foundations, the university's internal resources and private donors, who often have personal reasons for wanting to help U of L students complete their education.

The following are stories about five U of L students whose higher education dreams have been supported and realized, thanks to the generous support of U of L scholarship donors.

Synthia Shelby | Khue Huynh | Kristanne Harden | Colleen Villier | Lori Hale

Contributors to this story were John Drees, Dana Fischetti, Judy Hughes, Marilyn Odendahl and Mike Smith. Photography by Tom Fougerousse. Special thanks to Cathy Schaffer and Cathey Burnside in U of L's development office, who provided background research.