DS View: Scholarship

A new scholarship offers incoming freshmen up to $6,000 in financial aid and will likely increase admission rates.

If there is one complaint at UND that is more frequent than the calls for class to be cancelled when the campus is under siege by a blizzard, it’s that paying for school costs just a little less than an arm and a leg.

Thankfully, UND has introduced a new scholarship that could help soften the bite that getting a college education is taking on our wallets.

The university announced a new scholarship that will offer students $1,500 a year for four years, totaling up to $6,000. The scholarship is geared toward rewarding those who have shown academic success during their high school careers and will be available to incoming freshmen starting next fall. Requirements to receive the scholarship include an ACT score of 25 and an unweighted high school GPA of 3.5.

The scholarship requirements, which are slightly above the national average, is an attainable goal for many. And, as the price of tuition continues to rise as quickly as the national debt at UND and many other institutes of higher education around the country, any amount of financial help comes as a huge relief.

What’s more, this scholarship helps to provide assistance to those who lack the ability to throw a football more than few feet, or whose parents make too much money for them to receive financial aid but not enough to cover the cost of a college education. This scholarship, with its fairly accessible nature, helps catch students who fall through the other financial aid and scholarship gaps. There’s something symbolic about offering scholarship for, well, the simple act of individual scholarship.

We, The Dakota Student editorial board, support investing in students who have invested in themselves.

In a day and age when a college education is often the ticket to a successful future, it makes sense to offer positive reinforcement to those who have made their education a priority.

And, of course, when UND invests in students who care, it also invests in its own legacy. Most students are hard pressed to turn away from a university that’s willing to give them cash for their efforts. The idea is that these students, who truly deserve financial assistance for college, will turn that gratitude into a successful collegiate career that will bring the benefits back to the university.

So while UND still may maintain a reputation for keeping school open in everything but apocalyptic weather, this new scholarship and the others already offered by the university may just help students keep their limbs and get a college education at the same time.