U of A Offers Additional $300,000 in Scholarships to Arkansas Students

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas is awarding an additional $300,000 in new scholarships to incoming freshmen from Arkansas in an effort to increase access and affordability for in-state students.

The scholarships were awarded in February to Arkansas students who have been admitted to the state’s flagship university, have applied for scholarships, and will begin taking U of A classes in the fall. More than 2,270 Arkansas freshmen received scholarship offers, an increase of 19 percent over last year.

 U of A Chancellor Joseph Steinmetz authorized the increased funding to help make attending the U of A more affordable for Arkansas students.

“I want to reach out to talented, hardworking students across the state and let them know that the University of Arkansas will support them any way we can,” said Steinmetz. “These additional funds build on a scholarship budget allocated to the Academic Scholarship Office for Arkansas students of more than $9.4 million. I want every student in every county of this state to know that we believe in their dreams and want to partner with them.”

The funds for these additional scholarships will come from various sources including from the individual colleges and schools.

The funding also helps address the reductions in the amount of scholarship money available to first-year students from the Arkansas Challenge Lottery Scholarship. The additional U of A support has already made a difference: 33 percent more incoming in-state freshmen have accepted scholarships compared to this time last year.

In another move to increase in-state access, the university has established two additional recruitment and counseling positions in eastern Arkansas to help inform interested students about the U of A and prepare them to enter the university environment. These positions are part of a concerted effort to improve the university’s ability to reach and serve underrepresented communities.

"The combination of additional scholarship funds and these two new positions, to both recruit and support high school students in eastern Arkansas, will help more college goers in the state be better prepared both academically and financially to attend the university," said Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment. "We will have a record number of Arkansas students in the freshman class – and on campus – this year, and we are very excited about that."

The University of Arkansas currently has 10 recruiters who work in the state. The additional staff will ensure that U of A representatives can visit every high school in the state every year and can provide both academic and financial counseling.

The increased financial aid and newly created positions are two ways the university is seeking to build on its current outreach efforts to students of all economic backgrounds across Arkansas, increasing affordability while also working to ensure students are academically prepared to enter the university.