UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — An alumna’s estate gift will create endowed scholarships and support faculty and staff positions at Penn State World Campus and the Penn State Smeal College of Business.
The commitment from Carol E. Snyder, of Hernando, Florida, continues a far-reaching philanthropic legacy at Penn State created with her late husband, Charles "Chuck" E. Snyder. Carol designed the gift to reflect the couple’s belief that pairing endowments for faculty and staff excellence with endowments for student scholarships is essential to advancing student success.
The couple’s close ties to Penn State began with their own academic journeys and formed the foundation of their commitment to give back to support future students. Chuck, who died in 2023, graduated in 1960 with a degree in business administration. Carol received her bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Penn State World Campus in 2012 and is both a founding and current member of the World Campus Alumni Society.
“Chuck and I always believed that students succeed when the right people are in their corner and the right resources are in place around them,” Snyder said. “Supporting scholarships and the faculty and staff who guide students feels like a meaningful way to carry that belief forward. To me, that balance is what people and purpose really means.”
Strengthening student success at Penn State World Campus
At Penn State World Campus, Snyder’s estate gift centers on strengthening the leadership, systems and financial support that help online learners complete their degrees.
A central element of the commitment is an endowed directorship at World Campus, which will provide permanent resources to support senior leadership focused on academic advising, academic support and student engagement. With the endowment’s resources, the director will reinforce the University’s work to meet the needs of adult learners and military-affiliated students, particularly those balancing education with careers, family responsibilities, and service obligations. By investing in leadership capacity, the commitment will support initiatives that scale across the World Campus student population.
In addition to leadership support, Snyder’s estate commitment continues the couple’s longstanding emphasis on scholarships for World Campus students, transforming annually funded scholarships created by the Snyders into endowed funds. The estate gift prioritizes the Carol and Charles Snyder World Campus Military Scholarship and the Carol and Charles Snyder World Campus Undergraduate Completion Scholarship. This emphasis on student support is also reflected in the Charles E. and Carol E. Snyder World Campus Alumni Society Open Doors Scholarship, created by the couple to support first-year students in the highly impactful Smart Track to Success program and to rally philanthropy from World Campus alumni. The program, which combines financial support with coaching and life skills education, has positive effects on grade-point average, course completion and retention.
“Carol Snyder’s investment strengthens the critical leadership and support structures that keep Penn State World Campus at the forefront of serving adult and military-affiliated learners,” said Karen Pollack, interim vice provost for Online Education. “The endowed directorship and enhanced scholarship support provide enduring capacity to improve advising, engagement and degree completion. This commitment reinforces the mission of the Penn State World Campus Chaiken Center for Student Success and ensures we can meet student needs with rigor, scale, and institutional strength.”
Advancing faculty excellence and access at Smeal
Reflecting her wish to have a highly visible and meaningful impact at Smeal College of Business and to honor her husband’s pride in his Penn State business degree, Snyder’s commitment will support both faculty excellence and student access.
The largest portion of her estate gift to Smeal will be used to create an endowed professorship and early career professorship to empower distinguished faculty to pursue bold research and bring leading‑edge knowledge into the classroom. These investments also directly elevate the student experience by strengthening teaching, broadening mentorship and research opportunities and enhancing the overall reputation and impact of Smeal’s academic programs.
In addition to faculty support, Snyder’s commitment prioritizes expanded funding for the Carol and Charles Snyder Smeal College of Business Undergraduate Scholarship, originally funded by the couple through annual gifts. By endowing this scholarship fund, Snyder wants to reduce the financial barriers for students pursuing business degrees, allowing them to focus on learning, growth and future opportunities rather than financial stress.
Dean Corey Phelps, the John and Karen Arnold Dean of the Smeal College of Business, said the gift reflects Carol and Chuck’s longstanding belief in and support for Smeal’s commitment to educational excellence and expanded access.
“Endowed faculty positions fuel innovation in teaching and research — from early career faculty through tenured professors — while scholarships remove financial barriers for students, making a Smeal education more accessible to bright, ambitious business students,” Phelps said. “Carol’s estate commitment helps strengthen our strategic objective to be recognized as a top five public business school, and I am grateful for her support.”
Donors like Carol and Chuck Snyder advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development; and increasing the University’s impact for students, families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.