A new component to an Ohio University scholarship program will be introduced in Fall 2006 to recognize more high-achieving freshmen and increase the university's profile.
The Gateway Excellence Scholarship will become a part of OU's Gateway Award Program, which began this year and awarded scholarships on a sliding scale that combines merit and need components.
The Gateway Excellence Award is granted to students who score at least a 32 on the ACT or a comparable SAT score (of 1400)
said Candace Boeninger, assistant director of the Office of Admissions. It is a full in-state tuition scholarship.
The merit-based, four-year renewable scholarship will be awarded to more than 100 students next fall and is aimed at providing access to higher education by reducing the cost barrier, she said.
The Gateway program, introduced in March, includes a merit component, a financial aid component (based on the result of students' Free Application for Federal Student Aid form) and a component that blends both, said Sondra Williams, director of student financial aid and scholarships.
Boeninger said the revised Gateway awards next year will make scholarship money more accessible to students.
By starting at (an ACT score of) 25 (with the Gateway awards) there is a whole group of students who are now going to be eligible for awards she said.
The Excellence award will replace the previous Achievement Award Program, which issues awards to students who scored at least a 29 on their ACT or an equivalent SAT score, Boeninger said.
Next year, the award program will be altered to not use class rank to distribute scholarships, because many high schools rank students inefficiently or not at all, Boeninger said.
Both the merit-based scholarships and need-based grants that compose the Fall 2006 Gateway Awards are determined by a sliding scale of eligibility, and awards range from $500 to full in-state tuition, she said.
Over the next five years, one percent of any tuition increase will be used to fund the Gateway program, Williams said. Additional aid comes from the OU General Fund, she said.
Williams said OU's Office of Institutional Research will analyze Gateway's progress and efficiency every year.
I think that the Gateway Award Program is certainly the direction that the university will continue to take when it comes to granting scholarships
Boeninger said. That being said
as incoming classes of students change in their demographic makeup and their ability level and in their need requirements
then adjustments to the program can certainly be made.
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