by Tommy Napoli ‘17
Recently, the Admissions Department has announced that a renewable merit based scholarship will take effect for the incoming class of 2020. Previously, the merit based scholarship was a fixed amount of money taken off of the cost of tuition just for freshman year. This scholarship was awarded to students who received a 93% or higher on the entrance exam. Students who scored from a 93% to a 96% on the exam received $1000 off of their tuition that year, and students who scored a 97% or higher received $3000 off.
The new program will award students who score from 93% to 96% $2000 off tuition every year until graduation. Those who score a 97% or higher on the exam will receive $5000 off annually. In order to maintain these scholarships, students must have a GPA of 3.5 or higher throughout their academic career here, and they must be in good disciplinary standing.
Much of the funding for this initiative came from private donors. The school had been looking into the program for a while, but now there are enough resources to get things moving. It is important to note that none of this money will be taken from financial aid opportunities or other departments.
This policy is not retroactive, which may be upsetting to those who received the original scholarship. Mr. O’Rourke, Admissions Director, stated that it was hard enough to get the funding to start next year, let alone for previous classes. He mentioned that people were bothered when the original program came out, but that there’s a first year for everything.
When asked about the goal of the scholarship, Mr. O’Rourke had this to say: “We want to be known as the top academic school in Ohio.” Saint Ignatius wants to make the most appealing offer possible to applicants in order to encourage a more competitive field to apply. A benefit of a more selective class would be a possible increase in test scores. The school would be more likely to continue getting large numbers of National Merit Scholars, and our average test scores on other exams may also rise.
Thanks to generous alumni and the Admissions Department, Saint Ignatius can continue to be one of the top academic schools in the state by providing better opportunities for future wildcats.
