As chair of the School of Physical Therapy, George Maihafer is well aware of the financial struggles faced by many students in the program. And by establishing an endowed scholarship for future students, he’s doing what he can to help and hoping that alumni from the program will follow his example.

“There are not many scholarships in the health sciences overall, and particularly at Old Dominion,” he said. “But if you look at the actual cost of educating health professionals, they tend to pay the most in tuition. It takes a lot to train them, and consequently they pay a lot for tuition, books and fees. For example, a student pursuing a doctorate in physical therapy must complete 118 credit hours. The cost is exorbitant.”

Maihafer recently set up the George and Kate Maihafer Scholarship, in memory of his parents, with an initial installment of $10,000, and plans to add a like amount each year until he retires. The first scholarship can be awarded once the fund reaches $25,000, and he’s hopeful that there will be two scholarships by the time he leaves the university.

“My parents strongly felt that education was the key to molding good citizens and effective leaders, as well as enhancing the quality of one’s life,” he said. “I thought this was something I could do to honor their philosophy and help future ODU students at the same time.”

The Maihafer award will go to full-time graduate students majoring in physical therapy who have a minimum 3.25 GPA after their first semester. The application process also calls for candidates to submit a 500-word essay describing their career goals in the profession.

Currently, there are no scholarships at ODU designated for physical therapy students, Maihafer said. To date, the School of Physical Therapy has graduated 25 classes and has up to 800 alumni who went through the program. Another 31 students are expected to graduate next May.

Maihafer, who himself benefited from a scholarship in college, knows well the virtue of helping support the next generation of students. But today’s financial aid packages have higher percentages of student loans than ever before, he said.

“With governmental agencies now relying on student loans to offset the cost of college education rather than the scholarships awarded back when I went through school, we have to look to ourselves, and to our alums, to help the students of tomorrow.”