<p>I agree with this. And I am sure that UA has evaluated numbers and chose the #32 for a reason for the current scholarships. </p>
<p>But, I dont think that the scholarship would just go away. If they did anything, it may decrease as to the % of tuition covered. And yes, I am sure people would choose other schools that would give more scholarship money instead of UA if they had that option open to them. </p>
<p>Many families are moving past choosing colleges based soley on prestige and emotion. Past the belief that taking on large amounts of debt is an appropriate way to finance college. </p>
<p>For the families that are looking for the best price for an education, either because they need to or because they want to, UA may not be their choice if the scholarship money is decreased. Others may still be willing to pay the extra. I am sure UA will closely evaluate whether or not they have reached the point that losing students to other schools offering higher scholarships will be detrimental to the bigger picture in UA prestige ratings. They have come so far, and literally banked so much on the higher stat students this far, that I can’t believe they will make that decision lightly. </p>
<p>But don’t forget, many out of state students pay full price to attend UA now. I would bet that UA will watch the SAT/ACT and GPA averages of non-scholarship students that are paying full or most of their tuition out of pocket. Once those averages start to inch closer and closer to the scholarship levels, then they may start to make changes to scholarship money. </p>
<p>The other thing to remember is that out of state students spend money in the state that would not be there otherwise. So Alabama, and by association UA, IS benefiting from the high stats kids attending UA tuition free.</p>
<p>The ONLY reason UA is in the mix for my D next year is the free tuition. Having said that, she loved her HC visit and our family is truly humbled that an institution like UA would make such a generous offer! It’s just that we would not have looked at UA without the prez scholarship. I truly believe it would be a huge mistake to change this program. The higher they make the standards the less likely they are to snag those kids. Kids with 34+ ACT scores have many more options than kids with 32 ACT’s. Students with 32’s will get lots of partial tuition offers. So in my opinion, they would likely lose many of the kids they are trying to recruit.</p>
<p>A post from Bamagirls in the ‘Class of 2018’ thread:</p>
<p>“I received a response today saying the scholarship information will be posted July 15, but there will be no changes to the Presidential scholarship.”</p>
<p>I actually just contacted them a couple days ago, and the response I received stated that while requirement will be posted mid July, they have not heard whether or not there will be changes to scholarship packages. So while the person up there ^ may have contacted someone different, I’m still really worried… Did anyone else get the same response?</p>
<p>^i spoke to our regional representative about a month ago and she said she had heard nothing either way, but that was about a month ago. And yes I am really worried too. I won’t feel secure until the webpage is updated. I check it every day!</p>
<p>^Oh yes! The application is available. My DD applied 8 days ago, as soon as we realized it was live. Her application hasn’t been processed yet, so she cannot complete the scholarship application yet. My understanding is that once it is processed, she will get an email with her CWID # and then can register for a myBama account. Once she has that account, she can complete the scholarship application.</p>
<p>The application went live a few weeks ago, however, applications won’t begin to process for a few more weeks according to what I have been told. This year’s application opened nearly a month earlier than in previous years. It will likely be August before acceptance letters begin to roll out. A few years ago the earliest applicants received acceptances around the second week of August. Until a student receives a CWID, the student cannot access the Honors College and scholarship applications. I have received confirmation that the Presidential scholarship will remain the same, but the scholarship page will not be updated until the proposed minimal tuition increase is officially approved. I did not ask about other scholarship offers. It will likely be mid July when it updates online.</p>
<p>The anticipation of all the exciting things to come makes waiting difficult for all of us! Your student should receive the email with the campus wide ID, CWID, any day now. Students who are enrolled in UA Early College already have an assigned CWID, MyBama, and Crimson Mail. Those will remain the same. Once a student applicant receives the email, they can proceed in setting up an account and access the scholarship application. Other steps cannot be completed until an applicant is officially accepted.</p>
<p>Exciting times are ahead for both students and parents and both should congratulate themselves for a job well done so far. Relax and enjoy the next few weeks before this process is in full swing. Once this process begins you’ll want to buckle up because things begin to happen quickly and there will be lots of decisions and deadlines to make. Good luck and Roll Tide!</p>
<p>My daughter has a very difficult decision to make. She loves UA so much…but MSU has a program that is well suited to her. We need to do some research to determine if she can get a similar experience at UA.</p>
<p>Good luck RTRMom2! I feel fortunate that DD identified Bama early as her one and only choice. I have this forum to thank for that! The support on here is amazing! Now if we can just ensure the scholarship…</p>
<p>I just posted on FB that my daughter would need to decide if she was going to be a Spartan or a Champion. I think I am the only one who sees the humor in it…</p>
<p>Younger son will not apply if merit aid is reduced further. We are already iffy about sending our introverted kid to such a huge school. Older son, Mr. Social, absolutely loves it, but big schools are not for everyone.</p>
<p>LadyD Our introvert daughter was very comfortable when we visited UA primarily because of the “small” school feel of the Honors College but she also realized at a small school if there is a need to change social groups your choices will be limited.</p>
<p>LadyD…my older son was/is quite shy. And, he came from a small private high school. I was concerned that he might be overwhelmed, but he did fine. He loves Bama.</p>