USHE’s Annual Scholarship Report is now available. The report provides the Utah Legislature an update on the New Century and Regents’ scholarships. Both scholarships are administered by the Commissioner’s Office. While the total recipients for the New Century Scholarship remained constant for several years, the Regents’ Scholarship continues double-digit percentage growth (average 54% annual recipient growth) and appears to be prompting aspirational behavior among high school students, parents and administrators as a model pathway for successful college preparation in high school.
Regents’ Scholarship
The Regents’ Scholarship was created by the Utah Legislature in 2008 to encourage Utah high school students to prepare for college academically and financially. The scholarship is provided in conjunction with the Utah’s Step Up to Higher Education efforts, an outreach campaign encouraging Utah youth to dream big about their futures by preparing for and completing college. StepUp provides tips, tools, resources on preparing and paying for college so that obtaining higher education can be a reality for all Utahns.
To receive the Regents’ Scholarship, students must take the Utah Scholars Curriculum, which is proven to prepare students for rigorous college work. In addition to taking this curriculum, students must meet certain academic requirements, such as minimum GPA and ACT scores. The scholarship may be used at any public college or university in the Utah System of Higher Education, as well as at Brigham Young University-Provo, LDS Business College and Westminster College. There are three awards applicants can receive in the Regents’ Scholarship: the Base Award, Exemplary Award, and UESP Supplemental Award. Each award has different requirements, outlined here.
Based on legislative funding, the award amounts for the 2014-2015 college academic year Fall and Spring semesters (Fall and Winter at BYU) are as follows:
- The Base Award will be $1000 one-time.
- The Exemplary Award will be a flat dollar amount of $1,250 per semester for up to four semesters. (Students must renew their award every semester.)
- The UESP Supplemental Award is subject to the amount saved through the UESP program, with the maximum scholarship award being $400 one-time.
