Practical Advice

The Sokolov-Miller Family Financial and Life Skills Center helps Penn Staters manage life beyond the classroom.  

Money management is a layered skill set that every Penn Stater needs, regardless of degree program, career track, or age. And the Sokolov-Miller Family Financial and Life Skills Center exists to fill that need. 

The goal of the center, located at University Park, is to provide financial and life skills to the entire Penn State community; that includes students and their families, plus faculty, staff, and alumni. 

“Money management can feel really stressful if you don’t have a lot of information or background in it,” says Sarah DeWolfe, the center’s assistant director of financial coaching. DeWolfe was serving as interim director while director Julie Heaton was on maternity leave in early 2026. 

Through its staff, student workers, and website, the center offers workshops, presentations, webinars, and one-on-one financial coaching—all at no cost. Recorded webinars and self-guided modules geared toward students cover a range of topics, including finances for study abroad programs, student loans, money and nutrition, car shopping, FICO credit score, federal income tax for international students, federal income tax for U.S. citizens, budgeting, identity theft, life after graduation, and more.

Additional self-guided modules walk participants through the ins and outs of insurance, retirement, the time value of money, debt management, saving and investing, the homebuying process, and more.

For those who need more hands-on help understanding finances, the center’s staff offers one-on-one coaching. “I meet with a lot of first-generation students who ask if their parents can join the coaching,” says DeWolfe, whose approach is “the more, the merrier” when it comes to financial education. “They have questions like, ‘What’s the difference between the bursar and the Office of Student Aid?’ Or ‘I have an aid award, but I don’t know how to accept it.’” 

The seed for the center was planted in 2013 when Penn State’s adult learner advocacy office added a financial literacy position. A Penn State financial literacy website was created two years later, and soon, a full-blown center was established. The center received a major boost in 2018 with a multimillion-dollar gift from the Sokolov-Miller family, and today there are five full-time staff members and more than a dozen student employees who spend a semester in training before they’re certified to provide peer-to-peer financial coaching.

New VP for Development and Alumni Relations

On March 1, Jay E. Davenport began his tenure as vice president for development and alumni relations. Reporting directly to the president, with a dotted line to the senior vice president for external affairs, Davenport is responsible for guiding the university’s advancement strategy, encompassing fundraising, alumni relations, events, major gifts, and corporate and foundation engagement. He oversees a budget of more than $67 million and leads nearly 600 full-time staff members within the Penn State Alumni Association and the Office of University Development.

Davenport previously was vice president of development and alumni relations at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and VCU Health, where he oversaw all fundraising and alumni relations activities. Under his leadership, alumni giving to VCU grew by 43% over three years, and total giving increased 275%, including the largest gift in VCU history, at $134 million. —Penn State News

Meeting the Moment

New degree programs offered at western PA campuses aim to meet workforce demand.

Penn State Beaver, Penn State Behrend, and Penn State Greater Allegheny have opened additional degree programs designed to meet growing workforce needs in health care, engineering, and technical industries across Pennsylvania.

PENN STATE BEAVER
The Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology program focuses on the electrical, mechanical, and automated systems that power modern manufacturing and industrial operations. The four-year degree prepares graduates for technician roles in manufacturing, energy, and related technical fields.

PENN STATE BEHREND
A Second Degree Nursing program delivered by the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing will fast-track a career change for college graduates who want to work in nursing.

The Biobehavioral Health program teaches the science behind health, including the behavioral, psychological, sociocultural, and environmental factors that influence wellness. 

Two new certificate programs prepare students to work in artificial intelligence: a 15-credit certificate in Artificial Intelligence and Society and a 12-credit certificate in Building Artificial Intelligence.

PENN STATE GREATER ALLEGHENY
The Biomedical Engineering Technology program offers an associate degree through the College of Engineering that trains students to operate, maintain, troubleshoot, and repair medical equipment used in hospitals and health care facilities.

The Radiological Sciences program prepares students to produce diagnostic images, operate imaging technology, and provide patient-centered care in hospitals, outpatient clinics, and physicians' offices. The 24-month program runs year-round and blends classroom learning with clinical rotations. —Penn State News

Estate Gift Creates Scholarships

An anonymous donor couple’s generosity will give financial assistance to countless PA students. 

In the future, hundreds of Penn State undergraduates each year will benefit from the generosity of a donor couple who have chosen to remain anonymous. An estate commitment of approximately $55 million will grow the couple’s existing endowed scholarship at the university, making it the largest such fund at the institution. Available to undergraduates across every college and campus, the scholarships will be directed to Pennsylvania students with financial need. The planned gift is the second-largest single commitment in university history.

“This generous act of philanthropy will help to keep a Penn State degree within reach for Pennsylvania students, fulfilling our land-grant promise to families and the commonwealth,” says President Neeli Bendapudi. “Scholarships are vital to our educational mission, and I am deeply grateful to these donors for supporting our undergraduates and setting an example of generosity that will resonate for many years to come.”

The estate commitment will grow an endowment originally established by the donors several years ago with a $50,000 gift, which they have supported with additional gifts over time. —Penn State News