The College of Science is delighted to announce a record-breaking total of more than $7.5 million in scholarships awarded for 2017-18 to both current and incoming science students. This amount has tripled since 2015-16. The dramatic increase is due to a number of factors including more students who qualified, more students who accepted scholarship offers and a substantial increase in university scholarship funding thanks to generous donor support.
Scholarships play an important role in offsetting in-state tuition for three terms of $10,797 and $15,249 for room and board, fees and books.
Current science students are receiving 1,134 separate scholarships totaling more than $4.9 million for the 2017-18 academic year, with some students receiving multiple awards.
More than half of the incoming class of 2021 is receiving some type of scholarship support. In total, 570 new students received about $2.6 million in scholarships, with some students receiving multiple awards.
The distinguished and highly competitive OSU Presidential Scholarships were awarded to nine outstanding Oregon high school seniors who will join the College of Science in 2017-18. The scholarship provides each student $10,000 per year for four years. The scholarships are made possible by the generous philanthropic support of alumni and friends.
Scholarships enable the College to attract, retain and inspire top students, most of whom go on to high achieving careers in industry, graduate school, medical school and other professional programs after graduation. Oregon State’s financial need-based scholarships also help academically talented low-income and first-generation students from Oregon and elsewhere stay and excel in college.
First-generation college students typically have a greater financial need so scholarships play an ever-important part of their education equation. In our College, the number of first-generation college students has risen from 20% to 29% in the last five years.
Many scholarship students in science cite scholarships as easing the financial burden on their families and enabling them to focus on academics, research, enriching volunteer activities and post-college career goals.
