The University of Oregon has reshuffled its merit aid funds.
The Dean’s Scholarship, a minimum $1,000 prize for high-achieving incoming freshmen, will be replaced this fall with two loftier scholarships: the Summit and the Apex. Both scholarships will be offered to in- and out-of-state freshmen, but they bolster the $2,000 maximum reward offered by the Dean’s List scholarship to $5,000 and $4,000 respectively.
Students currently on a Dean’s Scholarship will continue to receive that award.
“We basically looked at our major recruitment scholarships and we revised the whole thing,” said Jim Brooks, director of Financial Aid and Scholarships. “We wanted these awards to be truly meritorious.”
Stemming from a growing number of merit aid-eligible students being accepted but not enrolling at the University, officials decided to refocus their funds to both reward and attract high-achieving students to Eugene. In recent years, there had been a growing public perception that Oregon was disinterested in aiding resident students in favor of higher-paying out-of-state students. Out-of-state students can earn up to $8,000 in scholarship money, but Brooks insists that bolstering the maximum reward for residents was the goal.
“Many of the things you were hearing were that the University of Oregon didn’t really care about Oregonians,” Brooks said. “This is our way of saying that’s not true at all. We’re putting our money where our mouth is.”
Jonathan Jacobs, director of research for the Office of Enrollment Management, was tasked to analyze how the money could be shifted to more effectively and how to better identify students who will be more deserving of merit aid. A major change is to incorporate standardized testing as criteria. Where the Dean’s Scholarship only required a 3.7 grade point average, Summit will be available to freshmen who achieved a 3.8 GPA with a combined 1,200 in reading and math on their SATs, or an ACT of 26. Apex weighs in with a 3.7 GPA and an 1,100 combined SAT score, or 25 on the ACTs.
“We want to reward students for their achievements in high school,” Jacobs said. “We also wanted to emphasize residents, reward them for their achievements and make it more attractive in general.”