Notre Dame Alum Gives $50M for Financial Aid

A 1963 alumnus of the University of Notre Dame has given the school $50 million in what the university calls the largest gift of its kind in school history. Harry Fath and his wife Linda say the money is be used exclusively for undergraduate financial aid.

After graduating from Notre Dame, Fath served in the U.S. Army. He then returned to his hometown of Cincinnati to earn a law degree. He transitioned from law into real estate investments, which led to the founding of Fath Properties.

“This extraordinarily generous gift will provide much-needed flexibility in offering financial aid packages tailored to the needs of our students and their families,” said Notre Dame President Rev. John Jenkins.

Notre Dame says in the current academic year it is distributing more than $180 million of aid in the form of endowment-generated, need-based scholarships.

The school says nearly 70% of Notre Dame students receive some type of financial aid, with an average scholarship of $50,500.