Scholarship requirements may become more stringent
Admission standards at USU remain the same despite all-time high enrollment, but scholarship standards for incoming freshmen will continue to change, said Admissions Director Katie Nielsen.
“I think more than the admission standards changing, it has been the scholarship standards that have changed,” Nielsen said.
Scholarship standards tighten every couple of years to accommodate the higher numbers of applications from incoming freshmen, she said. The university aims to keep the changes as minimal as possible to avoid straining parents and students, she added.
Admissions staffers work with families to ensure students are financially able to come to college, Nielsen said.
“A lot of what we do is sitting down with families and saying, ‘Okay, let’s walk through and see how we’re going to pay for it,'” Nielsen said.
The number of full-time students increased by 2.1 percent this fall from last year, according to figures released by the Utah System of Higher Education. Nielsen said enrollment has increased dramatically in the last three years, bouncing back from a 3.4 percent dip in 2005.
Although USU’s averages climbed higher than the state’s as a whole, the growing trend seems to be slowing down. This is the smallest amount of enrollment growth at USU since 2005, she said, and the goal is to keep the increase going, or at least keep enrollment from falling.
“We want to make sure, obviously, that we are maintaining this increase,” Nielsen said. “We don’t want to lose momentum at all.”
With more and more incoming freshmen applying for scholarships, the goal is to stay in budget while awarding as much financial aid as possible, she said.
In order to be admitted to USU, prospective students must have an index score of 90. Nielsen said the average index score for USU students is 111, and it’s barely below the scholarship standard. Scholarships are awarded starting at 117.
Index scores are calculated using the applicant’s GPA and composite ACT score, said Jenn Twiss, ececutive director for Enrollment Services. Admissions aims to keep award standards the same for at least two years, Twiss said.
“When we experience significant growth in one or more index categories, that may require us to raise scholarship parameters by a point or two the following year, to accommodate the trend of growth,” Twiss said.
Standards for admission have not changed in at least five years, Nielsen said, and they are evaluated yearly based on enrollment. Neither Nielsen nor Twiss said if plans to raise admission or scholarship standards are in the works.
“As for the future, we will continue to watch trends as they relate to demand and academic quality,” Twiss said.
USU’s admission standards have not changed, because current standards ensure the selection of new students remains high, Nielsen said. She also said the quality of incoming freshmen did not drop this year. The average incoming freshman has a 3.4 GPA and 24 composite ACT score.
Questions of admission standards are rising in other colleges and universities around the state as budget cuts continue and the number of students rises. Last month Utah Valley University announced it will impose enrollment standards for the first time on freshmen, next fall. The Orem-based university also took the distinction of having Utah’s largest student body away from Salt Lake Community College, which is down 4.3 percent in enrollment this year.
– la.stewart@aggiemail.usu.edu