Penn GSE exceeds $75M Extraordinary Impact campaign goal

Today Dean Pam Grossman sent the message below to alumni and friends of the School to announce the success of the Extraordinary Impact Campaign, part of the University-wide Power of Penn Campaign, following the fundraising campaign’s conclusion on June 30, 2021:

Dear Alumni and Friends,

I am writing to share the good news that Penn GSE has surpassed the $75 million fundraising goal of the Extraordinary Impact Campaign by more than 30 percent. The campaign concluded yesterday, June 30, 2021, as part of the University-wide Power of Penn Campaign.

A multi-year campaign and the largest fundraising effort in the School’s history, Extraordinary Impact has dramatically increased support for priorities across Penn GSE.  The School’s faculty, staff, students, and alumni can continue to reach learners locally, nationally, and globally -- and provide them with the foundation for lifelong opportunity.

I want to thank you, our alumni and friends, for all that you have done to support education and Penn GSE during the campaign. Without your incredible dedication, our success would not have been possible. 

Below are highlights of the campaign’s accomplishments. In the weeks and months ahead, we will celebrate stories of our impact and share more details about what has been accomplished once final numbers become available.

• Facilities and Technology: Penn GSE is undertaking a dramatic building expansion—the School’s first new construction in more than fifty years—to create a hub of twenty-first century teaching and learning.

• Scholarship and Fellowship: The School has made a Penn GSE education more affordable by initiating need-based aid for the first time and significantly increasing financial aid offerings to master’s students.

• Programs and Research: Penn GSE has grown its innovative work partnering with urban schools, sparking change in the field, deepening practitioners’ knowledge, reinventing teacher education, advancing racial literacy, and pioneering solutions in hybrid, digital, and active learning.

• Faculty: Penn GSE has increased support for faculty in order to continue attracting and retaining the finest scholars, who shape the field of education through their research, practice, and teaching.

• The Penn GSE Annual Fund: Through the Penn GSE Annual Fund, the School has supported every student, faculty member, and program, responding to new and exciting opportunities while preparing students for lives of leadership and service.

While it is important that we take time for celebration and reflection, those of us working in education know that there is still much work to do. Today the future of our nation and our world depend upon education more than any other factor. The challenges and opportunities of our time demand that broadly accessible, high-quality education impart the skills, knowledge, and values that are the foundation of civic responsibility and economic prosperity.

In keeping with my continued PennGSE vision to strive for access and inclusion, practical knowledge, powerful partnerships, and innovation for impact, linked below is a set of funding priorities for the next three to five years. It will ensure that Penn GSE builds the diverse pipeline of educators, leaders, counselors, researchers, entrepreneurs, innovators, and policymakers our world needs, who are equipped to navigate a new era with energy and creativity. I invite you to explore the seven priorities and to join us in the important work ahead.

As always, thank you for all you do for education and for Penn GSE. 

All my best, 

Pam Grossman 

Dean, Penn Graduate School of Education

George and Diane Weiss Professor of Education