<p>Providence does not have "specialty" targets for merit. The merit scholarships at Providence College are tied to the Liberal Arts Honors program (three levels - 15K, 21K, Full tuition). About the top 13% of students admitted to PC are selected for the scholarships and program inclusion. It is highly selective, but does not give any preferences to "special populations" - it is academic merit.</p>
<p>Having said that, it is important to note that the vast majority of PC's financial resources are tied to need-based programs.</p>
<p>From the Providence College website:</p>
<p>"Merit scholarships are awarded to those students who are invited into Providence College's highly selective Liberal Arts Honors Program upon admission into the college. Scholarships are awarded on three levels: St. Dominic Scholarships (full tuition awards excluding room and board), St. Thomas Aquinas Scholarships ($21,000 per year), and St. Catherine of Siena Scholarships ($15,000 per year). All of these scholarships are renewable for up to four years as long as students remain active members of the Liberal Arts Honors Program and maintain the required G.P.A. Merit scholars are typically at the top of their graduating class and have completed the most rigorous program of study possible during their high school career.</p>
<p>While the admission process is very holistic, the scholarship review is specifically focused on a student's academic credentials. Students who receive a merit scholarship will be notified by mail shortly after the admission decision."</p>
<p>Providence is targeting males heavily. I saw a memo that the school had circulated among their administrative dept addressing the low numbers of males applying. Having said that, all schools have things they target in addition to pure merit unless a specific matrix of numbers of gpa and test scores are specified. Things like geographics, area of interest, may be in there. This is not info they give out. BC, for instance, did not give their big scholarship to a number of kids here who had to be in the top ring of candidates. A parent I know called about this, and was told that it was not just numbers, as their daughter was definitely one of the very top in that area. She did not get one of those scholarships, and that year I happened to know a young lady in the midwest who did, with significantly lower stats. And they really courted her to come to the school. BC does not get many takers from Notre Dame country, and that was a big draw. This happens with many merit awards, and it is not described on the web sites or any other literature given to applicants most of the time.</p>
<p>Targeting men in the recruitment process is vastly different than awarding academic merit to the disadvantage of better qualified students. All colleges reach out to recruit students from a variety of backgrounds to broaden their applicant pool.</p>
<p>However, academic merit at Providence is awarded on the basis of the academic credentials submitted and to suggest otherwise is misleading.</p>
<p>I would encourage you to show more discretion in the information you put forth as fact - at least as it relates to Providence College.</p>