@AmyIzzy my oldest son is at Alabama on a NMF full ride scholarship. We never would have looked at it otherwise (we are from the midwest). Oh my word it is an awesome university and I think my son feels like there are plenty of liberal people there (although of course not as many as some other universities). His gf is from Oregon. Almost 60% of students are OOS, many from CA and Chicago. They are so generous with incoming credits, using scholarship money for Study Abroad (you can use affiliate programs with the scholarship which meant my son got CASH BACK - enough to pay for flight, travel while there and mores left over). The career center is great. It’s just full of opportunities. We haven’t looked at any TOP state schools (like Michigan!), but of all the ones that we did look at (and we were mostly looking for good merit), I feel like nothing comes close. Also the parent community is awesome and so supportive. When we went to visit, we met with 7 people individually and they all impressed us so much. The dean of the Honors College spent 45 minutes giving my son awesome advice. It is defnitely worth a look. Is it as diverse as somewhere in the NE or NW? Probably not.
NHRP recipients receive $24K over 4 years at a minimum.
https://scholarships.tamu.edu/Scholarship-Programs/National-Scholars
Thank you for all the info on Alabama. I hear only good things about the school and truly try to be open-minded with the Southern colleges, as often the stereotypes don’t match up. My daughter is on a one year leave of absence but attends a college in Louisiana, which could not be more diverse and progressive (granted it’s in New Orleans-so definitely an artsy area) and she feels very comfortable there. Not sure we can afford a visit Alabama right now but maybe he can apply in the Fall and see where it shakes out with merit (and if he qualifies for their Honors Program) to determine if we should explore more. Do you know if they have Early Action or Rolling Admission? My son will not be a NMF so I’ll have to look into what to expect if he is a National Hispanic Merit Scholar (I know offers are changing on that) or if his 4.0 unweighted GPA and 1450 SAT will help with merit at all. Thanks again!
Ok so I see this on the Alabama State website. I am a little confused on the housing, despite them explaining with the * (my brain is scattered right now, not great with multitasking. Lol.) Does this mean they offer free housing the first year or a reduced rate? Either way, it’s a pretty sweet deal if they continue to offer it in future years (my son is Class of 2023.)
Competitive Diversity Scholarships
The University of Alabama Diversity Scholarships are aimed at further supporting the stated goal in The UA Strategic Plan of attracting and supporting a diverse student body who will enrich the University’s learning environment.
To receive consideration for UA’s competitive diversity scholarships, students should be admitted and submit a Freshman Supplemental Scholarship Application with all required supplemental documentation by January 15.
Admitted students will be emailed instructions on how to access the Freshman Supplemental Scholarship Application.
National Recognition Scholarship Package
Students recognized by the National African American, Hispanic, Indigenous or Rural & Small-Town Recognition Programs who are admitted by May 1, 2022 will be selected for our National Recognition Scholarship package and receive:
- Tuition Scholarship for four years (eight semesters)
- $1,000 per year supplemental scholarship for four years (eight semesters)
- First year of undergraduate on-campus housing at regular room rate* (based on
assignment by Housing and Residential Communities)
National Recognition Scholarship Eligibility
To be considered for the National Recognition Scholarship at UA, students must be recognized by the College Board National Recognition Program. The College Board National Recognition Program is a third-party organization that create pathways to college for underrepresented students by awarding them academic honors and connecting them with universities across the country. Please review the College Board National Recognition Programs webpage for the eligibility requirements of this program.
*Regular room rate is defined as the largest room option in a particular dorm. Example: Riverside, Lakeside and Ridgecrest have four-person suites. The cost associated with the four-person suite would be the value of the housing scholarship in this circumstance. If you live in an alternative dorm where double room occupancy is the largest available option, then the cost associated with the double room would be the value of the housing scholarship.
I read that as free board of 1st year for a REGULAR STANDARD room.
Not a single or a suite or whatever is priced higher.
If a standard room is say $1000,
but the room your son chooses or matched to is $1500, then you pay the $500 increase.
Gotcha. Yes, ok that makes sense now as I re-read it. So a student would be covered for ONE YEAR for the most BASIC dorm set-up, but parents could opt for a higher tier of housing and would just pay the difference. Seems like a great deal overall, didn’t think housing would be included for any Minority Scholar recipients at any school but this is promising. Thanks!
Does anyone know if there is Honors Housing for honors college students and/or how the housing & food is at Alabama State, in general? Also, could anyone with knowledge of it describe the Honors College? Is the set-up a “small school within a big school” (kind of it’s own school) or is it more of a “take a few smaller honors classes per semester and the rest of the college experience is big-school feel.” Is the school in an urban area or more rural? I really came in with no knowledge of Alabama State because it was not on our radar and we’ve never even been to Alabama. Still not seeing my son fall in love with such a big school (and a party school at that) but he will probably like the price tag and perks (including study abroad) and might consider adapting his thinking. Now I’m intrigued.
You might want to also ask under Latest Colleges and Universities A-Z/University of Alabama topics - College Confidential Forums
I can’t tell from their webpage if their national recognition scholarship package is separate from or part of the competitive diversity scholarship. Trying to figure out if it is automatic or competitive for CBNHRP. They don’t offer my daughter’s major but might keep it in mind for my son to consider in the future.
Thank you!
Yes, that does seem unclear. I’ll try to further research that.
I believe the national recognition scholarship package at the University of Alabama is automatic and separate from other scholarships. My daughter has some awards already in the financial aid tab and she hasn’t applied to any scholarship.
Students recognized by the National African American, Hispanic, Indigenous or Rural & Small-Town Recognition Programs who are admitted by May 1, 2022 will be selected for our National Recognition Scholarship package and receive:
- Tuition Scholarship for four years (eight semesters)
- $1,000 per year supplemental scholarship for four years (eight semesters)
- First year of undergraduate on-campus housing at regular room rate* (based on
assignment by Housing and Residential Communities)
Diversity Merit Scholarship – Scholarships | The University of Alabama (ua.edu)
Anyone found any more colleges that offer scholarships for NRP? It seems like many on the above-named lists, have pulled or went to competitive. Alabama and Texas A&M were the only ones I could find. My daughter is a junior and I am assuming by the time she applies those too maybe gone next year. If you guys have found any for this year, can you keep adding them here, so we can touch base with the admissions offices this summer. Thanks
Just an opinion, but they watered down the criteria so much that the number of awards given creates far too large a pool for schools to continue with this automatic merit. It’s unlikely to have any meaning by the next admissions cycle. It is probably just another honor to list, which will have no concrete scholarship value- unlike NMF. I wouldn’t bother looking anymore.
I wish this were not the case.
There are others to have on radar, here are a few I can point to offhand:
The University of New Mexico is stepping up their game on recruiting NRP recipients, including auto-admit to their honors college.:
Florida International University:
- FIU Collegeboard National Recognition Programs (African American, Hispanic, Indigenous, or Rural and Small Town Recognition) - Students who qualify for Presidential/Ambassador scholarships and are selected as a finalist. Awards full tuition, stipend for books and $1000 stipend towards meal plan each semester.
University of South Florida gives $5k to OOS NRP, which is pretty meaningful when you consider their OOS tuition is only about $17k. You can stack it with a ‘Green and Gold’ award if you meet those criteria as well. Also doing auto-admit to honors college:
Have you seen this list? College Board National Recognition Program (includes former National Hispanic Recognition Program) Class of 2022 - Specialty College Admissions Topics / Hispanic Students - College Confidential Forums
While some schools are pulling out, some are still offering good deals, and some will probably continue to do so next year.
thanks, I had not looked at the FIU, if it stays available next year, that is reasonable cost 
We are trying to keep our costs below $10,000 a year.
I had a while back, thanks for link! Many don’t make enough of a dent for us, but some are pretty nice. I notice on several websites it very specifically states Hispanic or Hispanic/African American/Indigenous; they seem to carve out rural, I will need to contact admissions and see how that works, as well
I thought this was interesting (see link). Explains why people suddenly got their qualification letters in December who hadn’t received it before.
https://www.fairtest.org/college-board-national-recognition-program-adminis
Those Florida colleges and scholarships look pretty good. I didn’t realize their out of state tuition was so low.