UA probably had to keep the instate the same because of Auburn.
I emailed them about NM and engineering scholarships. Will post when I hear back.
I like to think UA kept the in-state scholarships the same simply because it was the right thing to do, given their mission to educate Alabamians! 
It will be interesting to see if other schools such as Ole Miss follow suit.
I wonder if they may have factored in historical information about students who have lost their scholarships? Maybe there was significant falloff between a 33 and a 32 in students retaining their scholarships?
Has anybody ever seen how many students who start out with the Presidential Scholarship eventually graduate? I know my own son has several friends who lost their scholarships. Not sure they were all on the Presidential, but they were mostly out-of-staters.
They also changed their requirements for admissions to the Honors College for fall 2018 to 30 ACT/1390 SAT.
https://honors.ua.edu/admission/
UA is D18’s first choice. When we toured over spring break the AO indicated that changes were coming, I’m glad to at least know what to expect. The speculating was killing me!
It’s easy to say this in hindsight, but I do believe my son would have still chosen UA under these new rules. It has been a fantastic experience for him.
The thing that some students may find the biggest loss: now having to pay for credits over the designated full-time limit. Many over the years have taken +++credit hours, included in their scholarship, allowing they to explore many different majors and coursework outside of their primary focus…and/or graduate on time…and/or use the scholarship for a semester abroad, etc.
Tightening the reqs for Honors College admission is a no-brainer.
Is the “full-time” limit 15 hours? I have a running spreadsheet with the merit scholarships of all the schools S18 is looking at and I’m trying to crunch the numbers and compare.
UA is still his first choice. I suspect after a little more koolaid at SITE camp this summer it will be even more solidly in 1st. Like @“beth’s mom” mentioned we are coming from Texas and merit at Texas flagships is practically non-existent. A&M is on his list but the money won’t be there. Texas Tech is a strong contender and he does already qualify for merit there that would bring it about equal to the Presidential if he gets the ACT score to a 33.
Ole Miss is also on his list and at least under last years guidelines would be significantly more merit that UA with some of the additional scholarships such as Eagle Scout. I just don’t think his heart was into Ole Miss as much.
From the Scholarship Data Coordinator, who returned my email:
So I wonder if the NMSF scholarship will still include the first year of housing, etc…
I am kind of surprised that NMSF won’t get the same things as the Presidential Elite scholarship.
Are we drawing a distinction between NMF and NMSF? NMSF never included housing.
Yes, what I posted upthread was just for NMSF. We’re still waiting on the official NMF package, I think.
I’m guessing it will be same as the new Presidential Elite because I’m pretty sure that in the past that’s what they offered students with perfect standardized test scores, even though it wasn’t widely advertised (if at all).
NMF appears unchanged on web site: http://scholarships.ua.edu/nationalscholars/
I just emailed her for clarification, but it looks like they recently updated the NM page to removed the specifics about the Presidential Scholarship for NMSFs (which earlier today had the old package listed).
Here’s what it says with regard to National Merit FINALISTS:
Of note: The Net Price Calculator is still using the old criteria (at least as of an hour ago).
I just got that information about the NMF package confirmed by the scholarship office.
@jpc763, you might want to alert them about that!
My son has a 31 and at least a 3.5 and would be a UA Scholar currently. How has this changed from what was was previously the standard?
@Salesboy, the UA Scholar award used to be 2/3 tuition. Now it’s a flat $19,000. Based on current tuition, the $19,000 is more than 2/3, but it probably will not be as tuition increases over the years. A 31 is still UA Scholar.
Got it. Thanks
We benefited greatly from the previous version of the Presidential, but even with the new limitations, it is still an excellent opportunity for many kids.
I really appreciate the guaranteed merit scholarships Bama offers. For so many schools, they are highly competitive, limited, and unpredictable. Guaranteed was wonderful!