Diversity becomes key in scholarship choices

High test scores and a notable class rank might not be enough to snag a high-school student a merit scholarship to UNC-Chapel Hill.

Not anymore, at least.

In addition to expanding its pool of merit scholarships by 60 for the coming year, the University is tweaking its criteria for such honors. New guidelines would put emphasis on SAT scores and academic honors — but students’ outside-the-classroom acumen will be important as well.

Mimicking the criteria the University already uses when deciding on admissions, new considerations in doling out scholarships could include artistic and athletic abilities, cultural identity and diversity, and social background.

“In the past, the academic scholarships were strictly based on test scores and class rank, and we’ve come over the years to have a much more holistic way of looking at the student,” said Dan Thornton, senior assistant director of academic scholarships.

Though UNC-CH moved toward a broader definition of merit in recent years, it’s an increased scholarship pool that provoked officials to talk of specific change.

The University now will allot 100 percent of its trademark revenues to scholarships under a plan approved by the Board of Trustees and the UNC-system Board of Governors.

The move could open up the scholarship pool to a more diverse and dynamic group of incoming students, but it also has the potential to ruffle a few feathers.

“It’s a double-edged sword because there are a lot of parents out there wondering why their child with a 1500 SAT score didn’t get a scholarship,” Thornton said.

“There has been a perception in the past that good grades and good SATs will guarantee a scholarship offer, and that’s not always true.”

Thornton said not knowing the effects of these changes presents an even greater challenge.

“When you start changing the definition, it’s sometimes not very clear to the outside world, or even to us, what it’s supposed to look like,” Thornton said.

“We are working on figuring out what that is.”

But don’t put down that study guide yet. Academics still will play a key role in determining who gets awards, said Jerry Lucido, vice provost for admissions and enrollment management.

“Academics are certainly a bottom-line issue but are no longer the only issue,” he said.

Instead, officials are trying to build on a belief that education is the conglomeration of diverse experiences and knowledge.

“You create a really exciting campus if you have a place where extraordinary young physicists meet extraordinary young violinists and extraordinary young creative writers mix with extraordinary young historians,” said Jim Leloudis, associate dean of honors.

“It’s hard to quarrel with the notion that we all will have richer and more vibrant intellectual lives if we are encountering on a daily basis people of different strengths and interests.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.