A $15 million gift to Drexel will fund scholarships for students from 7 Philly-area high schools

A $15 million gift to Drexel University from the Howley Foundation will fund scholarships for up to 10 students to attend the university each year, the university said Friday.

The money, which expands the Howley College Scholars Program that began in 2023, will be available to eligible students from seven Philadelphia-area schools: West Catholic Preparatory High School, Roman Catholic High School, St. Joseph’s Preparatory School, Merion Mercy Academy, Saints John Neumann and Maria Goretti Catholic High School, Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School, and Little Flower High School.

Combined with Drexel scholarships, the Howley Program will cover the full cost of attendance for selected students.

Students will be selected based on their academic record, and acceptance into one of Drexel’s programs in engineering, biomedical engineering, business, nursing, or computing and informatics, according to the university.

“We believe the best way to encourage upward social and economic mobility is through an education opportunity that leads to a high-quality job and career,” Nick Howley, a Drexel alumnus and trustee who leads the foundation with wife Lorie and daughter Meg, said in a statement. Howley, co-founder and board chairman of TransDigm Group Inc., said Drexel’s five-year co-op program makes it “uniquely qualified” to allow students to complete their educations and achieve career objectives.

The program was initially launched to fund students from West Catholic attending Drexel as engineering, accounting or finance majors.

“With its continued generosity, the Howley Foundation is enabling our university to deliver on its mission of expanding access to a Drexel education,” Drexel president John Fry said in a statement, crediting the program with bolstering the student body “with some of Philadelphia’s best and brightest.”