Sinclair Portis
Staff Writer
Lilly Casolaro
News Editor
The next group of incoming Troy freshmen will compete for academic scholarships.
New scholarship requirements for the undergraduate academic scholarships of the Millennium Scholar’s Award and the Chancellor’s Award have been implemented for incoming Troy freshmen in 2018.
This year’s changes do not guarantee that qualified students will automatically be awarded the scholarships.
According to Troy’s website, the Millennium Scholar’s Award amount varies from $11,000 to $15,000 annually. The academic requirements are at least a 32 on the ACT or 1450 on the RSAT and a 3.7 GPA. An essay will be required with the scholarship application. Previously, students who qualified for the scholarship received full tuition, room and board.
According to Troy’s website, the Chancellor’s Award amount varies from $7,000 to $10,000 annually. Requirements are at least a 28 on the ACT or 1320 on the RSAT and a 3.5 GPA. An essay will be required with the scholarship application. Previously, students who qualified for the scholarship received full tuition.
The ACT and GPA requirements for these scholarships have remained unchanged; however, the RSAT, a redesigned SAT test implemented by College Board in March 2016, will now be considered as well.
The RSAT scores range from 400-1600, while the previous SAT ranges were from 600-2400.
According to Troy’s website, “Troy University will accept both the previous SAT and the redesigned SAT (taken since March 2016). For scholarships, the highest SAT scores will be determined by utilizing test score conversions set by College Board.”
The changes do not affect currently enrolled students.
Tiffani Stephens, director of enrollment services, said students will now have to submit an essay along with these academic requirements. She said the amount awarded will depend on all of the above components and amount available.
While hundreds of students have already submitted admissions applications, the scholarship applications will open up this Friday, Sept. 1.
Though the new requirements and scholarship changes have been posted on Troy’s website with no indication that they are not finalized, Buddy Starling, associate vice chancellor for enrollment management, said the changes are not “official.”
“None of the changes in our scholarship program are final and official until after the cabinet meeting on Sept. 13,” Starling said in an email. “So, I really wouldn’t be able to comment until after that meeting.”
According to a Tropolitan article published in August 2015, Starling did not expect any more requirement changes for the Millennium, Chancellor and Leadership scholarships in the upcoming years.
Before the 2015 changes, the previous requirements had remained unchanged for the last 15 years.
An additional change is that the scholarship deadline has been moved up from March 1 to Dec. 1.
Stephens said that the Admissions department is adapting to the shorter time frame for scholarship deadlines and changing their recruitment process.
“It’s changing our recruitment drastically because we got to get the word out,” Stephens said. “Students can’t wait until March 1.
“We don’t want them to miss those opportunities in applying for the scholarships. So, we got to get that word out a lot faster.”
Stephens said that many students have reacted well to the new admissions process.
“Some of them, if they have an older siblings that are here and they know the older scholarships, they’re kind of worried about it, but (for) a lot of students, it’s their first time learning of Troy scholarships, so it’s a lot like other institutions in the state do, too,” Stephens said.
