UND will offer a new $6,000 academic scholarship for the Fall 2014 semester.

The scholarship will be available to freshmen students that are accepted to the university by March 1.

The new scholarship, which was made official on Nov. 1, is expected to bring more students to UND.

“This is our commitment to reward and encourage more students that have been successful academically, and will continue that success in college,” Vice President of Admissions and Student Financial Aid Sol Jensen said.

To be eligible for the new scholarship,  students should have a minimum ACT score of 25 or an SAT score of 1130.

Another requirement is an unweighted  high school GPA of at least 3.5.

The new award is worth $1,500 per year and can be renewed three additional years for a total of $6,000.

“The renewal criterion is a GPA of 3.0 cumulative at UND,” Jensen said. “The student must also be enrolled in 15 credits per semester.”

The number of credits is a change from previous years, when the minimum was 12 credit hours.

“We would like for more students to graduate in four years, and you cannot do that by only taking 12 credits per semester,” Jensen said. “Because these students are expected to be successful in college, we would like to give them that push to graduate in time.”

The new credit change will not apply to students at UND who have already received a scholarship, only freshman scholarships starting in Fall 2014.

As of Fall 2013, UND discontinued the CLSP scholarship, a scholarship that required freshmen to maintain a 3.0 GPA, take at least 12 credits per semester, live in a dorm the first two years and attend seminars and a meeting with an academic advisor every semester.

This scholarship is part of a transition the university will be making with student financial aid in the next few years.

“I will be conducting similar research and speaking with more students to see what additional changes we can make,” Jensen said. “This could happen as soon as Fall 2015, or 2016.”

The new opportunity and other possible scholarships in the future will be helpful to students who don’t qualify for the other scholarships that UND offers.

The $10,000 Presidential Scholarship is available to students who earn an ACT score of 29-31 or an SAT score of 1290-1390, and have an unweighted GPA of 3.65 or higher.

The $12,000 Presidential Scholarship is another opportunity with the requirements of a 32-36 ACT score or 1400-1600 SAT score, and an unweighted GPA of at least 3.65.

“Because the requirements for the Presidential Scholarship are so high, there are a small percentage of UND students who qualify,” Jensen said.

The new scholarship is expected to increase the number of students who receive these awards, and will likely increase enrollment numbers as well.

“The number of UND students that received scholarships for the 2013 – 2014 academic year is estimated at 2,691,” , Director of the Student Financial Aid Office Janelle Kilgore said.

UND scholarships are funded by a combination of alumni donations and institutional funds. Students can accept outside scholarships from their community or other sources in addition to any awards they receive from UND.

Emmy Erbes is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected].