TTU President Oldham Donates Bonus Back to School

Tennessee Tech President Phil Oldham is donating his bonus back to the university to help students in financial need.

TTU’s Board of Trustees voted to give Oldham a $60,000 bonus on top of a two percent pay raise during last week’s trustees meeting.

“I was not aware that the Board of Trustees were going to take this action,” Oldham said. “It took me a little while to process that and decide what was the best use of those funds. Really ever since the board meeting concluded, we began deliberating on how to utilize the funds and within 24 hours or so, we decided to put it to use to help students that were in the most financial need.”

Oldham said many students still face financial gaps when looking to afford a higher education, and the loss of federal programs like the Perkins Loan doesn’t make it easier.

“We’ve had the ability to do some short-term, no-interest loans for students in the past to help bridge that gap and there’s always more need than we’re able to satisfy,” Oldham said. “A portion of these monies will be utilized to help create more opportunities for students to access short-term financing to help bridge them over that gap.”

Oldham said being able to assist students who are struggling financially means a lot to him, citing past experiences from his wife Kari.

“Kari put herself through college working two or three jobs most of the time,” Oldham said. “She understands better than most what it means to struggle financially to get through college, but how important it is to finish that degree and have a brighter future. We feel very good about this decision [and] feel very positive about the ability to help students who are in the most financial need.”

Oldham thanks the Trustees for their support and appreciated the gesture to give him a bonus. The Trustees voted 7-1 in favor of the bonus and raise, but voted 4-2 against increasing the bonus from $60,000 to $105,000.