Photo by Andrew Wigdor / MTSU Sidelines
MTSU announced a significant increase in the value and scope of the university’s Presidential Scholarship Tuesday, according to a press release. The enhancement of scholarship funds will more than double the amount awarded to certain incoming freshmen next fall.
MTSU President Sidney McPhee announced the scholarship boost on a stop in Franklin as a part of the “True Blue Tour,” an annual admissions road trip to 14 cities in four states. McPhee stated that the Presidential Scholarship will increase to $18,000 in total value, which will be paid out at $4,500 per year for four years to eligible incoming freshman. According to MTSU’s website, students now must have an ACT score between 25 and 29 or an SAT score between 1200 and 1380 and a high school GPA of at least 3.5 to receive the scholarship.
Previously, the Presidential Scholarship paid $4,000 per year to students with ACT scores between 28 and 29. The Presidential Scholarship has now replaced two other MTSU scholarships: the True Blue Scholarship, which paid students with scores of 26 and 27 $3,000 per year and the Provost Scholarship, which paid students with scores of 25 $2,000 per year. MTSU’s Trustees Scholarship, which pays $20,000 in four installments of $5,000 to students with an ACT score of 30 and above and a GPA of 3.5, will remain unchanged by the new development.
The Presidential Scholarship is guaranteed to all students who meet the requirements and apply to the university before Dec. 1.
“With these enhancements, the Presidential Scholarship becomes the largest guaranteed academic award given by any public university in Tennessee to students with these credentials,” McPhee said in the press release. “For Tennessee residents, when combined with the Hope Lottery Scholarship provided by the state, it will substantially reduce the cost of tuition for these high-ability students to attend MTSU.”
McPhee also said in the press release that the enhancement of the scholarship will make MTSU the destination for more high-achieving students.
“We feel strongly that MTSU, as a major compressive university with a broad array of top-notch majors, is the best choice for these high-ability students,” he said. “Enhancing this scholarship will make it even more practical and affordable for them to pursue their higher education goals on our beautiful campus.”
The implementation of the scholarship boost comes after an increase of students attending institutions of higher education immediately after high-school graduation.
According to the Tennessee Promise 2017 report, the statewide college-going rate increased by 4.6 percentage points in 2015, the first year of the Tennessee Promise implementation. The college-going rate reflects the percent of seniors in high school that enroll at a post-secondary institution directly following graduation. The increase was larger than the increases in the previous seven years combined, ushering 4,000 new college students into higher education.
The Tennessee Promise is a state program that provides two years of free tuition at community and technical colleges.
For more information on MTSU scholarships, visit here.
To contact news Editor Caleb Revill, email newseditor@mtsusidelines.com.
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