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Few merit-based scholarships available Close Up: Financial Aid By Scott Lange Assistant News Editor ATLANTA November 6, 1998
 The opportunity to receive a top-quality education at an affordable price has long been one of the primary reasons students choose to attend Georgia Tech. However, a combination of factors has made it difficult for many of the Institute's most outstanding students to find scholarships to help them pay for school.
While the Office of Student Financial Planning and Services administers well over 300 institutional scholarships, most of them are aimed at very specific subsets of the student population. As a result, some of Tech's elite leaders and academic achievers are left to pay their way through school out of pocket.
"We put a fair amount of money into [merit-based scholarships] but we don't go out and buy people," Director of Student Financial Planning and Services Jerry McTier said. "That's typical of most elite institutions. If you were at Duke and said 'I have a 3.8, where's my money?' you wouldn't get much of a response."
The scholarships that are available for current Tech students are mostly based on three distinct qualifications. Scholarship committees look at merit, need, and often, geography. Many awards are targeted towards students from particular cities, counties, or states.
"To say that we sit in the Financial Aid office and reward academic excellence is generally not true," explained McTier. "[To the extent that] that is done, it is done by specific departments."
However, the Institute does offer millions of dollars in merit-based scholarships each year through the President's Scholarship Program. Founded in 1981, the Program offers annual stipends at two levels to about 80 students in each incoming class.
"The President's Scholarship Program is Georgia Tech's premier merit scholarship program to attract the best and brightest to Georgia Tech, to get top students interested in learning about Georgia Tech while they are still juniors and seniors in high school, and to increase the enrollment of top student leaders," President's Scholarship Coordinator Randy McDow said. "It increases the overall academic level on campus to have motivated students here. It really helps with recruiting them to campus and helps with support while they are here."
"I believe [the President's Scholarship Program] is doing an excellent job," McTier concurred. "The changes they made recently are bringing more people to campus with a potential to be leaders. They're finding people who were leaders in high school and are likely to be leaders at Georgia Tech."
While the President's Scholarship is a high-profile merit scholarship given to hundreds of students, only high school seniors applying to the Institute are eligible to apply for it. There is no analogous program for students already at Tech.
"I think there is a definite need for scholarships [based on merit for students already at Tech], but the question is, given limited money, where should the limited resources go? There are so many outside scholarships and internships available, so Georgia Tech has chose to leverage its money by getting the students to Tech in the first place."
Even though the President's Scholarship Program is primarily a recruiting tool, it does also function as a reward to its recipients. Out of state Scholars receive annual stipends of either $10,000 or $5,000 while in state Scholars receive either $5,000 or $2,500. President's Scholars also receive benefits such as priority registration for housing and classes, an additional e-mail account, and access to a private study room.
"[In order to continue receiving the money] they are required to keep a 3.2 overall GPA," McDow stated. "They are required to average 15 hours per quarter over their lifetime at Tech. They are also required to be involved on campus or in the community to some degree."
"Unlike some scholarships and programs at other schools, we don't say what they need to be involved in," McDow continued. "If community service is not your thing, go and do some cold fusion. We bring them in because of their diverse interests and abilities so we don't try to dictate to them what they should do while they are here."
According to McDow, some Scholars are extraordinarily involved in campus leadership while others focus on academics and a small percentage fail to meet the goals of the Program altogether. Some believe that the money going to those President's Scholars who are not living up to the Program's ideals would be better spent on scholarships for deserving students already at Tech.
"It would be nice if we had more scholarships for upperclassmen, but the students who would get those scholarships are typically already doing fairly well and are looking at good job offers and have had good co-op jobs," argued McDow.
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Copyright © 1998 by Gregory S. Scherrer, Editor and by the Student Publications Board
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