<p>I am curious about the out of state NMSF scholarships at the Univerisity of Alabama. I have friends who live in Alabama and they complain about the quality of the elementary and secondary education. They have told me that they have to provide many basic necessities for their children that other states provide.</p>
<p>I am wondering how Alabama can afford to provide such generous scholarships for out of state students? What is the funding source? Do they have a large endowment?</p>
<p>Hopefully mom2collegekids will see this. </p>
<p>Funding for higher education (college) in most states is out of a different “pot” than funding for public schools prek-grade 12.</p>
<p>As I understand it, at least part of the funding for the National Merit Scholarships comes from Alabama’s highly successful and lucrative athletic program – Roll Tide!</p>
<p>gsmomma… in the rural areas of alabama that is certainly true. the state is also under proration with huge cuts to education overall. our local high school has never offered any ap courses, there often is not a text book per student. The cities seem to be able to offer more to their elementary education.
(we chose to take one of our kids out of the local system as he was not being challenged at all)</p>
<p>I’m glad you asked - it seems to me like the academic equivalent of dipping into the high cost free agent market instead of cultivating your farm teams. I would imagine they are hoping that graduates will stay and work and draw industry to the colleges and vice versa.</p>
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<p>That may be the motivation – at most colleges, post graduation employment tends to have a significant local and regional bias. So if UA schools can draw in more top students and induce employers of such students when they graduate to locate and expand in Alabama, that benefits the state’s overall economy and tax revenue stream.</p>
<p>I understand the motivation to draw top students to UA. The benefits of the NMSF make it very hard to turn down. I don’t understand where they get the money. I wonder how many other states may want to try to duplicate the program.</p>
<p>I wonder how many out of state students end up living in Alabama after graduation? I have a relative from PA who is planning to attend UA on the NMSF scholarship. It will be interesting to see if they end of living there after graduation, especially since the student plans to major in theater, which may not be a big industry in Alabama.</p>
<p>Parents from many states complain about K thru12 education in their states. </p>
<p>bama scholarships don’t come from taxes</p>
<p>Note that the big UA scholarships are even bigger for engineering majors, indicating that they seem to be especially eager to attract top engineering students.</p>
<p>[Scholarships</a> - Undergraduate Students - The College of Engineering - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://eng.ua.edu/undergraduate/scholarships/]Scholarships”>Scholarships – College of Engineering | The University of Alabama)</p>
<p>For OOS applicants with >= 3.5 GPA, here is the list of scholarship amounts per year up to four years:</p>
<p>ACT: non-engineering / engineering
27: $1,500 / $3,000
28-29: $3,500 / $5,000
30-31: 2/3 OOS tuition / full OOS tuition + $2,500
32-36: full OOS tuition / full OOS tuition + $2,500</p>
<p>The state NMSF cutoff is average for the nation. It’s not low. So bama is cultivating its farm team as well. There are many high stats instate kids a well. State population is low so importing kids helps.</p>
<p>Typically rural schools are less strong anywhere.</p>
<p>Some grads will stay instate and some won’t. That’s not a top goal. Having grads working all over the country is a plus too.</p>
<p>Don’t know where it comes from, but as a parent of a NMF from a middle class family I can say that I thank them for the program. With the current cost of college attendance and the push the last few years for many schools to offer need only assistance we would have ended up with very few options if not for schools like this. (and a few others like OU)</p>
<p>I understand and support the programs for financial need and URM’s, but with the current pace of tuition increases we are about to price out the entire middle class unless they are willing to pick up over $100K in loans, maybe more (after contributing what they can pay out of pocket).</p>
<p>Thank you for the responses. Coming from a state where teh state flagship has D1 sports teams, but it are not the same level as UA, I didn’t think about money coming from the athletic program.</p>
<p>I am glad that they have this program to attract more highly talented academic students to the school. Like MemphisGuy has said, the cost of college education is pricing out the middle class. I am sure that my relative will enjoy her time at UA.</p>
<p>Alabama engenders a lot of loyalty, even among alums who move away. It has one of the highest alumni giving rates in the country. </p>
<p>I’m the parent of a student on the National Merit Scholarship at Bama and I myself went to Alabama. I was an instate student. Among my closest friends in college, four of us were from Alabama and two were from out of state. Both of the out of state students stayed in Alabama after graduation. Three of the four in state students moved away after graduation. We’ve all sent our children back to Alabama for college. Our kids have chosen Alabama over their instate options at the University of Texas, the University of Florida and the University of Georgia.</p>
<p>According to page 8 of “A Vision Becomes Reality,” a publication of the University of Alabama available at: [A</a> Vision Becomes Reality](<a href=“http://issuu.com/universityofalabama/docs/visionreality]A”>A Vision Becomes Reality by The University of Alabama - Issuu)
UA made $8 million in royalty income, largely fueled by sales of collegiate merchandise sales fueled by the success of the football program. Half of that money was earmarked for scholarships, specifically National Merit scholarships.</p>
<p>As a parent of a D who chose UA & the NMF scholarship, I am quite thankful.</p>