| In a letter to alumni, WKU officials said in order to increase its institutional aid to students the university is increasing financial aid opportunities and removing the ACT from consideration for academic scholarships. The letter reads: For the past year-and-a-half, WKU has worked to refine its scholarship offerings and increase its institutional aid through an extensive analysis of our student population. With the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) opening on October 1, we know that financial considerations are currently at the forefront of students’ minds. Because of this, today we are excited to reveal a new scholarship program that allows WKU to be a larger part of the higher education conversation with students and families. Below are a few highlights, effective for incoming WKU freshmen beginning fall 2020: |
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| Through these changes, WKU is making an additional $5.2 million in scholarship funding available – an approximate 20 percent increase from last year. As a result, we estimate that nearly 80 percent of our incoming freshmen in fall 2020 will be eligible for some type of institutional scholarship aid. By comparison, that number was 39 percent this fall, so we are more than doubling our reach. With these new scholarship offerings, we increase access by decreasing cost, and we reward students’ hard academic work during high school, not just their performance on a single test. WKU’s own retention analyses and national research show that GPA is the best indicator of a student’s likelihood of success. By taking the bold step to expand our scholarships, we not only will increase student access, retention and graduation rates, we also will grow our university’s net tuition revenue. More students will choose WKU as their higher education partner, and fewer will leave due to financial burden. |
