Southeast Missouri State University has announced a new scholarship in the Copper Dome Scholarship Program: the “Will To Do” award.
The need-based scholarship is intended to "fill in the gap," or cover the remainder of tuition costs and general fees for students that are not paid for federal, state, and institutional grants or scholarships.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Southeast student financial services director, Matthew Kearney said many of the award’s recipients will be the first in their family to go to college.
“A college education can be life-changing, not only for the student walking across the graduation stage, but for their families and their communities,” said Kearny. “We want families’ discussions regarding college to be about when the students go and not if the students go.”
Incoming freshmen who are eligible for a Federal Pell Grant, are Missouri residents, and have a minimum high school GPA of 2.75 will be eligible for the scholarship. The funding is reallocated from Southeast’s prior scholarship programs such as the Regent’s level and the Governor’s level.
According to Southeast president Dr. Carlos Vargas, while the pell grant provides up to $6,195 annually for higher education, it’s not enough to cover a student’s “total college expenses.”
“What we were finding is that there were students that were pell-eligible that were still having to pay out of pocket,” said Kearney.
New students will have scholarships in the Copper Dome Program available to them, but students who have earned discontinued scholarships will continue to receive those.
The university expects roughly 900 students to come to Southeast on the Will to Do Award.
All scholarships for incoming freshman fall under the Copper Dome Scholarship Program, and President’s scholarships cover fees at the university and some housing costs.
The announcement of the new scholarship comes as another auspicious development may be just around the bend.
“Although it’s not yet official, we’re optimistic that Southeast will have reached a new milestone in the retention of first-year students this fall,” said Vargas.
As of the beginning of the semester, 75.8% of first-time, full-time Southeast students had re-enrolled in college, but official numbers will be out on Sept. 17.
Vargas said the award values are progressive, meaning the scholarship amount will increase each year it is renewed.