Winter is ahead, but it may be time to think about summer

Ryan Dangerfield | Staff Writer |@ryandanger23

 

Utah Valley University offers scholarship money for students hoping to graduate early that would help pay part of tuition for summer semester. Federal Pell Grants, which are available for up to 24 credits during an academic school year, are usually used up by summer semester.

“Hopefully 15 credits to finish over two semesters, which the institution is trying to push students towards, or 12 credits in the fall and spring, 6 credits during the summer, will save student’s lots of money, keeps students on track to graduation,” said Tiffany Evans, director of program completion in the Academic Affairs office.

Over 80 percent of students who applied last year were awarded a scholarship of either $800 for students taking up to eight credit hours, or $1,100 for students taking at least nine credit hours. Those students awarded the scholarship included 113 students from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, 90 from the Woodbury School of Business, and 80 from the College of Science and Health.

The requirements in order to be considered for the scholarship last year were you must have 96 credits completed towards a bachelor’s degree, plan to graduate by at least spring of 2016, have a 2.7 grade point average or higher, and also have completed the 2014-15 FAFSA.

“In 2010 and 2011, the federal government allowed a third additional Pell Grant, for students to use during the summer, which saw an increase in enrollment during summer semester,” said Evans. “Therefore, when the institution was made aware the third grant was going away, we wanted to do something to support our students, which is why we developed the scholarship.”

For students who cannot afford to attend summer semester this amount may seem small compared to the $2,635 tuition for summer semester. There are also several other potential ways to get a scholarship for summer semester, including working at a student organization, such as UVU Student Association, or the UVU student government.