I thought we had zoned in on our college choice, but DS threw me a curve of wanting to “look into” UK this weekend. I’m not seeing a clearly defined package online, what I see doesn’t match with what I had in my spreadsheet for them last year, and we’re not getting consistent answers from the phone calls we’ve made so far. So, are any of you further along in the process in UK. What does the package look like for Class of 2016?
Thanks for any help you can give.
Are you looking here: http://www.uky.edu/financialaid/scholarship-incoming-freshmen
Yes. The person on the phone said they don’t do the $2000 award anymore and that the housing allowance was $4k and change - should cover honors dorm. But $4k and change doesn’t cover honors dorm per the website. So… I was hoping someone had sat down with them and received first hand information that either confirms what the website says or is otherwise clear on the award.
@bmolloy97 … I can’t say whether there will be any changes to the Patterson package for incoming students next fall, but our D2 is a current NMF Freshman at UKy so I know what her scholarship covers. She is living in Central II in the Honors LLC and we signed her up for the 14 meal/week plan. Her Patterson award amount covers the billed charges for Tuition and Mandatory Fees, her room, and her meal plan. We were anticipating that it would only cover the amount of the 7 meal/week plan and that we’d have to pay the few hundred dollars per semester difference, so thus far we are pleasantly surprised. $-)
The $250/semester NMSC “official” award (8 semesters x $250 = the $2000 mentioned in the Patterson description) just hit her student account yesterday, so we’ll have to wait a few days to see if that gets refunded to her as we’re anticipating. It isn’t uncommon for those smaller “official” scholarship amounts to take at least a few weeks longer to post to a student account than the university scholarships do, since the school has to “send the money” to NMSC who then turns it around and “sends it back” to the school.
FWIW…our D2 LOVES UKy!! :x We do as well, so I’d definitely recommend your DS and your family giving it a good look. Congrats on his NM status and good luck to you all in his college search!!
Thank you @Wolverine86 . His other two choices are Alabama and Mississippi State. We are anxious to see how everything compares and very thankful for the opportunities. Thank you for sharing your experience.
The scary thing about UK’s NMF award is that you need a 3.5 to keep it. It’s very easy for a student to fall below a 3.5, especially if a STEM major.
@mom2collegekids … UKy only requires a 3.3 to maintain the Patterson scholarship. I noted that in the other thread regarding required GPA’s and posted the info directly from UKy’s website. Scared me a little at first that they might’ve changed the requirements, but 3.3 matches D2’s scholarship letter and the info on their website. #:-S
Thanks for the update.
A 3.3 is better than a 3.5, but still can be scary. Also, must maintain 12 credits per semester.
I spoke with a rep at UK this morning. UK will cover 100% tuition (out of state included) for 8 semesters. This does increase as tuition increases. They will also give a housing allowance equivalent to the cost in the honors dorm ($7056 this year) and the minimum meal ticket ($2746 this year). These amounts will increase as costs increase. The big difference between UK and the other schools we’ve spoken with is that if the student does not stay on campus, they will write you a check - you do not forfeit the funds.
You do have to maintain a 3.3 GPA. Grades are verified at the end of the freshman year and then yearly after that unless you have trouble. You get a 1 semester probation if you drop below, but you forfeit that semester of the award.
It is not required to be in the Honors College or to live in that dorm. That’s just what they use as a baseline for the housing allowance.
I just now spoke with the scholarship rep for Engineering. They have a generous freshman engineering scholarship. However, if you receive the Paterson (NM Finalist) award, you cannot receive the freshman engineering scholarship. This is a bum. Most other schools let you stack the college/departmental scholarships. It is a significant award at UK, $12,000 over 4 years.
Rumor has it that the average GPA in engineering programs is a 2.7. If your son really does plan to study engineering and definitely needs a scholarship to afford college, then I would also apply to some places where the NMF award does not require such a high GPA. For example, the University of Minnesota gives great merit aid to NMF (by stacking scholarships), and it only requires a 2.0 GPA to keep most scholarships.
Asking about the average GPA of the school is a question I just recently learned to ask. 
I have a phone call with the recruiter tomorrow and will confirm that number then. His other 2 schools only require a 3.0 for NM scholarships.