Pool & Match

Over the course of many decades, UW-Madison has generated a significant pool of donor funds designated for a wide range of qualified recipients and containing terms specified at the time of gifting through a Memorandum of Award (MOA). Some of the MOAs restrict awards based on identity characteristics of the recipients. Prior to the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision in SFFA v. Harvard and University of North Carolina (“SFFA), identity characteristics were one element considered in admissions and financial aid. Following SFFA, admissions policies and procedures no longer consider identity characteristics and a new approach to distributing identity-conscious scholarships was implemented to comply with the law while still meeting donor preferences. To continue to award these generous donations in the spirit they were intended and also not select recipients based on identity, UW-Madison engages the method called “Pool & Match.” Using this method, the amount and type of a student’s financial aid award is established based on neutral criteria such as need, merit, and geographical limitations and awarded in a manner that does not advantage or disadvantage a recipient because of any identity characteristic.

• Race or Ethnicity
• Gender or Sex
• Age
• Religion
• National Origin
• Sexual Orientation
• “Underserved” or “Underrepresented” (unless defined in a manner that does not use any of the above-listed identity characteristics)

Pool & Match is a scholarship distribution process where scholarship administrators establish the specific level of funding offered to a particular student based on merit, need, major, GPA, or a variety of other non-identity based characteristics. The commitment to the student is fulfilled using funding from a variety of sources, which may include awards with identity criteria. Each student’s award level is determined by identity-neutral criteria and all students receive the same award level they would have received regardless of the consideration of any identity-conscious funds.

For illustration purposes only, outlined below are several options for how Pool & Match may be implemented.

1. Suppose all incoming Transfer students for a particular Major are promised $1,000 in scholarships. The criteria – transfer student and particular major – are identity-neutral. When assigning scholarships to cover the $1,000 promised to each student, scholarship administrators can award scholarships that consider identity characteristics because each student selected to receive the $1000 scholarship will receive exactly $1,000 regardless of which scholarships are assigned (i.e. John receives Scholarships A & B for total of $1,000; Jane receives Scholarship C for $1,000. If Jane receives her $1000 from a scholarship source designated for female recipients, she is not getting extra funding based on her gender; she is receiving the same amount as John, just from a different source.).
2. Suppose the university determines that Alan has $10,000 of financial need and Barbara has $8,000 of financial need. To meet that need, a variety of funding sources including scholarships that consider identity characteristics can be used to fill each student’s need. Both students receive the appropriate funding to cover their need and neither is disadvantaged, regardless of the source of the scholarship funding.
3. Suppose Carol earns a $20,000 merit award based on a combination of her grade point average, major, and leadership activities which places her in tier one of the merit awards. Under the same criteria, Don qualifies for $15,000 which is the second tier of the merit awards. A variety of funding sources including scholarships that consider identity characteristics can used to fill each student’s award level that was predetermined using neutral criteria. Both students receive the funding they were promised and neither is disadvantaged.  If Don is Asian American, and receives, as part of his $15,000 a scholarship designated by the donor for an Asian American student, he is not receiving an advantage based on his race. He is receiving the same total,$15,000, that he would have received regardless of his identity.