Students attending Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences may find it a little easier to scrape together scholarship money this year, thanks to the Pennsylvania-based Master Farmer Association. The association recently reached the $150,000 goal for its established Trustee Matching Scholarship program. That goal will be celebrated during the March 23 Master Farmer Awards Luncheon in Harrisburg.

An initial $50,000 commitment from the Master Farmers Association was made in 2006. The goal tripled when one Master Farmer and his wife offered an additional $50,000 if the association raised a like amount within three years. Accepting the challenge, the Master Farmers raised private and individual donations to meet the deadline, resulting in a $150,000 endowment to the College of Agricultural Sciences.

The Master Farmer program was established in 1927 to recognize farmers and farm families who have demonstrated ingenuity, outstanding farming abilities, successful business leadership and positive involvement in their local, state and national communities. Now encompassing the Mid-Atlantic region, the Master Farmer award is sponsored by American Agriculturist magazine and Cooperative Extension in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

In 1967, the Master Farmers Association began offering scholarships in the College of Agricultural Sciences in honor of two former editors of Pennsylvania Farmer magazine, the forerunner of American Agriculturist. "Master Farmers are pledged to promote and support agriculture," says Jim Hoover, secretary and treasurer of the association. "In our opinion, the best way to do that is to try to help students who will be the future of agriculture in Pennsylvania."

The association recognizes the importance of ag research, education and Extension along with the support farmers receive from the state's land-grant university, adds Charles Brosius, chairman of the association's scholarship committee, Penn State trustee emeritus and former Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture. "For a variety of reasons, many Master Farmers didn't have the opportunity to secure an advanced education. These scholarships will help to ease students' financial burden."

The Trustee Matching Scholarship Program has a unique matching component. The university matches 5% of the principal of each gift annually. The funds are combined with income from the endowment to effectively double the financial impact of the scholarship.