Yes, it was just a matter of time before Alabama readjusted the generous merit offers for college board recognition. Maybe they can still offer the “gold plan” for students who have an SAT score above a certain threshold and have a smaller package for those with lower SAT scores? Not sure what the answer is. I think Alabama has a good reputation for being inclusive and most students are from OOS (many from California & New York) so probably more progressive than most think. If minorities stay in the “bubble” of campus, they should be fine but being targeted outside of campus can be a real fear. So my son has a hard time justifying attending school in a state that is so backwards on women’s rights, diversity, the environment and education. He has a few Florida schools on his list but the same struggle, even though the schools are known to be progressive. I’d prefer him close to home so his stance helps my selfish goals. Lol. My daughter goes to school in New Orleans and has major issues with Louisiana politics (they just came close to imposing the death penalty for women who have abortions!) but her campus/city is very progressive and she tries to make change from within, becomes involved with local activism, attends protests and rally’s, etc. so seems to work for her. If anyone gets confirmation on the new merit policy for Alabama, please share. That’s definitely the best one out there for NHMS right now.
I do wonder about this all too. eg the rural PSAT program is included in the NRP program. There are LOTS of kids who might qualify as the psat scores needed for that are quite a bit less than NMF. when will they draw the line? ?? 
i can imagine it is coming though.
Very similar thoughts in our household as well.
Some schools very specifically say which categories of NRP they will seek out and award merit to. Some of the schools in the south (not TX or FL) specifically state they will look for Hispanics only. Not sure if it is a remnant from the NHRP days or whether they have enough AA students and small/rural students but it is definitely not one size fits all! I would look into each program in Aug carefully.
Yeah - i hate to say it, but we told our D22 to apply to one state school in TX as a fall back because she is auto-admit to school (not necessarily major) in case everything goes sideways. She chose UT Austin because it is more liberal leaning and because she had been to A&M once and did not like the campus. But with the new ultra conservative laws being passed all the time in TX, I had Zero desire for her to remain in this state. Especially the laws that effect education standards, and when they are trying to re-white (oops sorry, I meant rewrite) history in Texas, I had no desire for her to remain within the confines of any level of the Texas education system. On top of that, open carry, conceal carry, no permit required to carry, buy any gun you want as many as you want, anywhere you want, with no effort and no training required combined with open carry on college campuses in Texas? No thank you. Now I also just heard that little Kyle Kenosha is transferring to A&M. Absolutely no thanks.
There is no way a school will state that outright on their website because that will be an open invitation for lawsuits. But I suspect we will see more of a Fordham or Northeastern approach where the school will award largest scholarships to the most qualified, whatever that might mean.
I think some of us posted results a couple months ago, but as a recap: D22
Boston University - Presidential Scholarship received in recognition of NHRP - $25,000 - $100,000 for 4 years
U of Arizona - National Scholar Award - $38,000 - 4 yr ( $152,000)
(although it is really probably Arizona Distinction Award for $35k + National Scholar Award for $3k - but her letter actually says we are delighted to offer you the National Scholar Award of $38,000, renewable for 4 years for total value of $152,000)
Mississippi State U - National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholarship - $10,000 ($40,000)
Non-Resident Tuition Scholarship, Housing Scholarship for freshman year and local MSU alumni Scholarship - total: ~$110,000 for 4 year - first year would only had to pay board
Currently a finalist for Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar
Accepted to other schools with merit scholarships and other schools with grants that were not related to NHRP or National Merit status.
Did not choose any of the schools above. Heading off to be a Blue Devil in Durham.
Many schools have listed merit award amounts based on a matrix of GPA and SAT/ACT scores in the past. Some still do, without being sued, eg Tuition Costs & Financial Aid | Admissions | USU
Saying must be CBRP + a GPA cutoff + an SAT cutoff is totally legal. No reason why a lawyer would stop a school from taking this approach.
@Twoin18 and @joelatte Sorry about the confusion. What I was trying to state is that a college cannot explicitly say that they will have difference stat based admission standards for URMs versus the general population.
Which makes CBRP program golden for a big school like Texas A&M. You are rewarding an attainment vs a demographic. I am sure it has helped with securing HSI status over the last two years, which TAMU touts.
Not Semi finalist with that score. Commended is the honor
My son self nominated last year because although he qualified we never got or saw the invitation. Is real easy-be ready to upload transcripts (because you enter GPA) and the PSAT results so they can verify. They do not ask for anything else. Alabama has an excellent scholarship for kids with this award, take advantage of it!
We didn’t see a place to upload transcripts?
Did you self nominate? I think because we self nominated we had to, but may have been last year or I may be wrong. But regardless, don’t worry, if it didn’t ask you to upload transcripts, you should be fine.
I didn’t see a place on this year’s application to upload transcript, sounds like others have had the same this year, maybe they will request later? Crossing my fingers that this self-nomination thing works!
They used to have students upload a transcript. We did. Sounds like they stopped asking for it. Which is strange that they would stop verifying GPA.
Well, I assume the colleges will see the applicant’s transcript when they apply and if it is not 3.5 then no dice?
The award is from the college board. Students apply. Applications are verified. Awards are issued. The colleges offer scholarships based on receiving the award. Colleges don’t verify that they met criteria to get the award. The college board does that. Also it says "Must have a 3.5 GPA or higher at the time they are submitting the application. " Which is when they apply for the award, which may be different then when they apply for college.
College Board added some info on their website:
*Please note that for class of 2023, previous awardees are included in the calculations for the top 10% within program by state.
*Please note, students in class of 2023 who have previously received recognition are not eligible for the same award. Students can only be awarded once per program during their high school enrollment.