Thanks to a new scholarship program Escambia County students and their parents could receive a lot of help with the cost of attending the University of South Alabama.
Beginning this fall, the Mitchell-Moulton Scholarship Initiative will offer enhanced academic scholarships to up to $12,000 a year for tuition and they are still available to 2013 high school graduates.
The scholarship initiative, announced earlier this month results from the largest gift in Alabama higher education history. It signifies a notable expansion – both in quantity and quality – of USA’s scholarship program. It is named after Abraham “Abe” Mitchell, who donated $25 million to the initiative, and retiring USA president, Gordon Moulton.
“Given the rising costs of attending college and the pressure this puts on students and their families, President Moulton told me it was his fondest wish as he completed his career that even further efforts be made to create additional academic scholarships,” Mitchell said.
“This new scholarship program is about ensuring that a quality higher education remains within financial reach of all our citizens. The emphasis is not only on the highest academic achievers who have many opportunities here and elsewhere, but also on those solid middle-achieving students, who traditionally might not receive academic scholarships.”
Under the scholarship initiative, all qualifying in-state high school graduates, and out-of-state students who receive Alabama resident tuition will receive annually renewable scholarships based on the following schedule, those receiving 23 on the ACT score and a 3.0 GPA will receive $2,500 per year; 24-27 ACT score and a 3.0 GPA would receive $3,500 per year; 28-29 ACT score and a 3.5 GPA would receive $5,000 per year; GPA score of 30-31 ACT score with a 3.4 GPA would receive $8,000 per year; 32 ACT score and 3.5 GPA would receive $9,000 per year; and a 33 and above ACT score and 3.5 GPA would receive $11,000 per year.
Out-of-state students who receive resident tuition status rates include Mississippi students from the counties of George, Greene, Harrison, Perry and Stone and Florida students from Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
Out-of-state high school graduates who are not eligible for residents tuition will receive annually renewable scholarships under the Mitchell-Moulton Scholarship Initiative as follows, 23 ACT score and 3.0 GPA would receive $5,000 per year; 24-27 ACT score and 3.0 GPA would receive $7,000 per year; 28-29 ACT and 3.5 GPA would receive $10,000 per year; and a 30 or above ACT and 3.5 GPA would receive $12,000 per year.
Students who are interested in receiving a Mitchell-Moulton scholarship, should contact the USA Office of Admissions, online at www.southalabama.edu/admissions, email at admiss@southalabama.edu, or call 251-460-6141 or (800) 872-5247.
USA currently awards approximately 3,600 scholarships each year. The new initiative is expected to create up to 2,000 additional scholarships, bringing the number of scholarships awarded annually to some 5,600.