In hopes of promoting student success and encouraging graduation in four years, changes to ASU’s merit scholarships will go into effect next fall.
The merit scholarships include the President’s, Provost’s, University and Dean’s scholarship. Previously, as long as the students maintained a 3.25 GPA and took 24 credits a year, they were eligible for renewal.
The requirements have now changed to a 3.0 GPA and 30 credit hours per year. The change will officially go into effect fall 2011.
Craig Fennell, director of Student Financial Assistance at all four campuses, said the purpose of the change was to help students move forward to graduation by reducing the GPA requirements.
Moving the credit requirements up to 30 every year helps the students stay on track because the scholarship only lasts for four full-time years, he said.
“What we want to do is increase progress,” Fennell said. “We would like students to achieve graduation in four years.”
Kent Hopkins, vice provost for Enrollment Management at all four campuses, sent an e-mail to all recipients of the scholarship.
In the e-mail, he said the requirements were also changed in order to follow the same example of other Arizona universities.
UA requires a 3.0 GPA for its merit scholarships while NAU requires a 2.75, Fennell said.
Fennell said the enrollment management and financial aid offices are trying to align the merit scholarships with the other two Arizona universities.
It’s a benefit to students because they don’t have to maintain a 3.25 GPA every year, he said. The lower GPA requirement will also allow more students to renew their scholarships.
He said that last year, a review was conducted of merit scholarship renewal criteria to determine how best to support ASU students in achieving graduation within four years.
Hopkins and his staff made this decision at the beginning of the semester when the review results were sent in.
Fennell said the 2010-2011 academic school year is a transition year until the new criteria is enforced.
Because of the requirement change occurring in the middle of the semester, ASU is offering two options to merit scholars.
Fennel said this year, students are given the choice of staying with the previous renewal requirements or beginning the new renewal criteria.
“The goal is always going to be to help students move through and persist,“ Fennell said.
Duyen Tran, a journalism junior, has had the Provost’s scholarship since her freshman year. She said she is not worried about meeting the 30-credit requirement because every semester she takes at least 15 credits.
Tran said she is a little surprised by the sudden changes but thinks they make sense.
She understands ASU’s financial aid staff is encouraging students to graduate within four years, she said.
“They only award this scholarship for eight semesters, so a 15-credit semester is understandable,” Tran said.
Josh Morin, a percussion performance junior, has also had the Provost’s scholarship since he was a freshman.
At first, he felt indifferent toward the changes in the scholarship, but he realized the change had its pros and cons, he said.
Morin, a student at the ASU Herberger Institute School of Music, said 15 credits per semester are not hard to maintain.
In addition, he said he participates in many one-credit classes for his performance groups.
He currently takes 17 credits and is still able to participate in two musical ensembles he is not registered for outside of school, he said. Overall, he said the change does not bother him.
“I almost prefer the added pressure of doing well in all my classes,” Morin said.
Reach the reporter at khillhou@asu.edu
