Michigan-based Thompson Foundation celebrates 25th Anniversary Focused on Scholarships and Education

Media Contact: Lucie Fornasiero; EAFocus Communications; 248.925.6726; lucie@eafocus.com

Plymouth, Mich. — August 16, 2024 — Bob Thompson, an unpretentious man who made his first fortune in the asphalt paving business, achieved success by measuring and controlling costs, meeting or beating project deadlines, quality workmanship, and setting new standards for road construction. When he sold his business, the Thompson McCully Company, in 1999, Thompson shared nearly one-third of the $422 million sale proceeds with his employees. That same year, Thompson and his wife Ellen (Bowen) Thompson founded the Thompson Foundation. Twenty-five years later, their giving spirit continues, providing financial support to college students from working families – including thousands from Michigan – and a pathway for some Detroit high school seniors to attend college. Critical to that support, participating students, their families and higher education institutions need to have skin in the game.

In the early 2000s, the Thompsons founded the Thompson Schools Foundation to construct and own 10 state-of-the-art-school buildings in Detroit, complete with furniture, fixtures, and computer equipment at a cost of over $125 million. The University Prep (UPrep) Schools, which pay only $1 in rent per year to the Thompson Schools Foundation, serve over 4,500 students in grades K-12. The UPrep high schools strive for a unique goal – known as the Detroit 90/90 Promise – which aims to have 90% of the entering freshmen graduate and 90% of the graduates accepted to attend a two- or four-year college, university or trade school. Since the schools opened, this promise has always been met.

With the K-12 schools in place, the Thompsons set their sights on higher education, partnering with universities to provide scholarships with well-defined and measurable requirements to provide an education that prepares students for meaningful careers and community-centered lives. What began as a pilot program in 2011 at Grand Valley State University, the Thompson Working Families Scholarship Program was designed by Ellen Thompson to help high achieving students overcome financial barriers to higher education. Today, it is in place at Grand Valley, Saginaw Valley State University, Michigan Technological University, and Bowling Green State University, the Thompsons’ alma mater, where both majored in education.

The funding formula in the Thompson Working Families Scholarship program differs from other scholarships in higher education. Known as Thompson Scholars, students receive a total of $11,000 each year, covering much of their tuition. Thompson Foundation funding is $5,500 per student and the university matches that funding dollar for dollar. The program is funded each year based upon the students meeting the Thompson Foundation required metrics: the Thompson Scholars must cover any remaining cost of tuition, meet a minimum 2.75 GPA, be enrolled in minimum credit hours, and complete 20 hours of community service per year.

“I’m convinced that everybody has to have some skin in the game. We have tried it the other way, where we pay all the student’s costs, for some reason, it just does not work,” Bob Thompson said. “The university, the parents, and the students all have to participate.  In most colleges, 51% of the starting freshmen graduate. Of the Working Families Scholarship students, 86% of those who start the program graduate.”

In addition to the Thompson Working Families Scholarship programs, select graduates from the three UPrep high schools receive college scholarships with accountability metrics and ‘skin in the game’ financial commitments, similar to the Thompson Working Families Scholarship program, to attend college through the Sidney A. Ribeau Presidential Leadership Academy at Bowling Green or the Thompson UPrep Scholarship program at Grand Valley.  There are 25 total spots for graduating UPrep students to attend Bowling Green or Grand Valley annually through this funding. As of fall 2024, an anticipated 65 students will be enrolled in these programs.

About the Thompson Foundation

Established in 1999 by Robert and Ellen Thompson, the Michigan-based Thompson Foundation forms partnerships with higher education to provide scholarships that have well defined requirements. The Thompson Foundation works with its designated partner schools to provide an education that ultimately prepares students for meaningful careers and community-centered lives.