Academic Scholarship Drive :: Mayville State University

Mayville State University President Dr. Brian Van Horn is pictured with students Hannah Stark and Aleks Koppel at the annual Honor Society President's Dinner held Oct. 21, 2026. At the dinner, the students shared their gratitude for their Mayville State experiences and the generous alumni and friends who help to make these experiences possible through their financial and other support. Click here to hear the students' remarks.

As the holidays draw near, our hearts are filled with gratitude for the many gifts with which we have been blessed. One of those precious gifts for countless alumni and friends is Mayville State University. For 137 years, the university has provided experiences that have made lives better.

Will you consider paying your gratitude for Mayville State forward so that a deserving student might enjoy the benefits of a Mayville State education?

Scholarship assistance truly makes a difference for students who are becoming the leaders of tomorrow. The opportunity to earn scholarships weighs heavily into a student’s decision to attend Mayville State. While our costs are very affordable, a scholarship makes our university even more appealing and may mean the difference in whether a student chooses to attend Mayville State, or whether to attend college at all. Your gift will help to relieve the financial stress that can go with earning a college degree and may be the very thing that makes it possible for a deserving person to earn a college degree.

Please consider what Mayville State has meant in your own life and make a gift to the scholarship fund that will help to ensure that others will benefit in the same way you have.

The thankfulness flows in both directions.

We at Mayville State could not be more grateful for the generosity of our alumni and friends. Your support is key to making great things happen at the university and in the lives of individuals. From the bottoms of our hearts, we say “thank you” for your past and future support. You are changing lives.

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Your gift to the academic scholarship drive will help hard-working students like Hannah and Aleks.

Hannah Stark.jpg “Mayville State has given me more than an education. It has helped me become a person who is ready for what comes next. I am incredibly excited to say that after graduating from Mayville State next spring, I'll be attending graduate school to pursue my dream of becoming a physician assistant.

"I am one of many who have been impacted by the generosity of Mayville State alumni and friends whose support makes meaningful experiences possible. On behalf of every student who receives a scholarship, every athlete who gets to compete, every student who gets to conduct research, every student who finds a mentor, every student who discovers what they want to do with their life ... thank you.

"We are incredibly grateful to call ourselves Comets."

Hannah Stark, Granite Falls, Minn., Senior Biology Major

Aleks Koppel - sized for web.jpg "I came to Mayville State in the fall of 2025 to play baseball. I'm the first Estonian to play college baseball in the United States. Right now, there are only 20 baseball players in the whole country of Estonia.

"None of this would have happened without my dad. In the early 1990s, he went to a baseball camp in Estonia and fell in love with the game. He went on to found the Estonian Baseball Federation and our club, the Kiili Panthers, where I started playing at eight. Baseball was his dream first. Somewhere along the way, it became mind, and it changed my life.

"My work in the Mayville State business office has allowed me to interact with faculty, staff, and students. Our conversations have helped me to realize the best part of this community: the people. My teammates, colleagues, and profesors are the reason Mayville State feels like home.

"Those who support scholarships, teams, programs, and buildings may never meet the students they help or see the full impact of their generosity, but we know you're there. You're the reason a place like MSU can take a chance on a kid from a country with 20 baseball players. On behalf of every MSu student, thank you."

Aleks Koppel, Kiili, Harjumaa, Estonia, Senior, Accounting Major

Checks may be mailed to MSU Foundation, 330 Third Street NE, Mayville, ND 58257.

Questions? Call or email Stacy at 701-788-4864 or stacy.buchl@mayvillestate.edu.

A message from President Van Horn

Brian Van Horn.jpg Dear Friends and Supporters,

At Mayville State University, we believe education represents more than access to a degree. It opens doors, changes trajectories, and creates opportunities that can last a lifetime. Every scholarship is an investment in potential, and the reflections shared by Hannah and Aleks show the profound difference your generosity makes.

As you read their heartfelt words, I hope you recognize the gratitude they express on behalf of Mayville State students whose lives have been enriched by donor support. Your generosity extends far beyond financial assistance. It empowers students to pursue their goals with confidence, embrace new possibilities, and achieve more than they may have imagined.

Across campus, the excitement is undeniable. From record enrollment and growing student engagement to transformational facility improvements, Mayville State is experiencing incredible momentum. None of this happens by accident. It is the result of a community of dedicated supporters, alumni, friends, faculty, staff, and donors working together to create opportunities that change lives.

Thank you for the vital role you play in Mayville State's continued success. Through your investment in our students and our university, you are helping to build a future defined by achievement, purpose, and possibility. Together, we are creating a lasting legacy that will benefit generations to come.

With sincere appreciation,

Dr. Brian Van Horn
President, Mayville State University