Lipscomb restructures scholarship program

A new scholarship plan will be implemented for the 2002-03 academic year that rearranges funds in an effort to distribute monies to more students.
"This new plan was recommended and approved after extensive research by the nationally recognized consulting team of Scannel and Kurz, along with valuable input from the deans and administrators," said Walt Leaver, vice president for university relations.
"The goals of this plan are to increase the number of students who enroll and to increase the quality of students who enroll."
Several changes have been made to the current student aid distribution plan to accomplish these goals.
Under the previous plan, students with an ACT score of 30 or higher and a g.p.a. between 3.0 and 4.0 received scholarships ranging from $2,500 to $4,500. Under the new plan, students in that same range will be offered scholarships of $7,000, which admissions officials expect to favorably affect the yield among those very qualified students.
Also, under the previous plan, students with and ACT score of 30 or above and a g.p.a. of 4.0 or higher were invited to campus to compete for one of three presidential scholarships, which included full tuition.
"For some time, there has been concern among many regarding this format. While these scholarships provided a nice carrot that was designed to attract 60 or more top students to the campus for the Presidential interviews, all of whom were eventually awarded very nice scholarships, the format actually left the majority of those highly qualified prospects feeling as if they had 'lost,'" said Leaver.
Under the new plan, all these presidential qualifiers are being invited to a Presidential Scholarship Celebration weekend, scheduled for March 8-9. By attending this event these students will qualify for an additional $1,500 in scholarships, over and above the $7,000 base scholarship they will have already earned.
This event is being designed as a first-class preview day for top students and will provide an opportunity for these highly qualified students to be introducted to the opportunities available to them at Lipscomb.
In addition, under the new plan, minority students will receive an additional $2,000 per year, over and above all other scholarships for which they qualify, Leaver said. Under the previous plan there was no special consideration for minority students.
"Our goal is to increase diversity on this campus. Right now we are targeting minorities in this way in an effort to do just that," said Leaver.
As was instituted last year, National Merit Finalists will continue to receive full tuition plus $2,000. Seven National Merit Finalists were in the Fall 2001 freshmen class.
"Jeff Dale and his team in the Office of Student Financial Assistance, in conjunction with the Admissions office and the faculty, are working to make Lipscomb affordable to as many qualified students as possible," said Leaver.
For more information about applying to Lipscomb or about scholarship opportunities, contact the Office of Admissions at 269.1776 or toll-free at 877.LU.BISON.

Source: Lipscomb