Students currently receiving the President's Scholarship must maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA in order to remain eligible.
By Sara Gold, Copy Editor
A discrepancy concerning the minimum GPA required for students to maintain the President’s Scholarship for next school year has been resolved.
The President’s Scholarship is an academic scholarship awarded to AJU students upon matriculation. A minimum incoming GPA of 3.5, along with leadership experience, community service and/or involvement in enrichment programs, is required for matriculating students to be eligible for this scholarship.
The President’s Scholarship is renewable for four years, contingent on a student’s academic performance at AJU. The confusion surrounded the minimum GPA required for current recipients of the President’s Scholarship to receive their scholarship funds next year.
On January 25, near the beginning of this semester, a number of President’s Scholars were notified via email that their scholarships were in jeopardy because, as of Fall 2011, their cumulative GPA had dropped below 3.5.
This information, however, contradicted the University’s preceding policy that all merit-based scholarships are, according to the criteria that used to be posted on AJU’s website, “renewable for four years based on good academic standing (i.e. a 3.0 GPA or higher).”
Dean Stuart Sigman confirmed that while the 3.0 requirement is no longer posted with the scholarship information on AJU’s website, it still applies to current AJU students. He explained that the scholarship criteria were removed from the website because the administration is “re-examining the levels and types of scholarships for students who begin in 2012.”
Any future changes to the scholarship requirements, however, would not affect currently enrolled students.
Sigman clarified that AJU’s current policy does in fact require a minimum 3.0 GPA to renew all merit-based scholarships, including the President’s Scholarship.
A letter dated February 16, 2012 was sent to students who had received the first letter regarding the President’s Scholarship. The second letter confirmed that, “For all the President’s Scholars, a 3.0 GPA is required for continued receipt of this merit award; the previous letter incorrectly listed a 3.5 GPA.”
Regarding the confusion, Director of Financial Aid Larissa Zadoyen explained, “It wasn’t a typo; it was a slight discrepancy with the university’s actual policy. Originally, we thought that it would be good if President’s Scholars could maintain a higher level because of the honor of the scholarship, but given the short notice and the previous policy, we decided to keep it at 3.0. We apologized and sent out an email saying that 3.0 is enough.”
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