Marshall board approves Border State Scholarship for qualifying students in five states

Marshall University’s Board of Governors voted Wednesday, Aug. 23, to establish the Border State Scholarship for prospective students from Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia who satisfy minimum academic qualifications, beginning with the 2007 fall semester.

Marshall President Stephen J. Kopp said the principal objective of the Border State Scholarship plan is to significantly increase the number, yield and enrollment of non-resident applicants particularly from higher population centers in states bordering West Virginia.

The Border State Scholarship will allow qualifying students from the five states to pay the current metro rate of $7,382 per year, which is about $3,700 less than the current non-resident tuition rate of $11,054.

Kopp said the plan in no way alters Marshall’s historical commitment to recruit and serve residents of West Virginia. “It is an important component of our long-term strategy to grow full-time student enrollment at Marshall University through the combined expansion of resident and non-resident student populations,” he said.

The scholarship will be awarded based on merit, requiring applicants to achieve a minimum, composite ACT score of 23 and a high school cumulative grade point average of 2.75. To remain eligible for the Border State Scholarship, students enrolled under the plan must be in good academic standing at the end of each academic year. They may retain their scholarship for no more than five years.

Kopp said a secondary purpose for instituting the Border State Scholarship plan is to increase the retention and graduation rates of these non-resident students. He said the plan will have little or no impact on applicants from current metro counties who will retain the admission eligibility and tuition and fee requirements currently in effect.

“This restructuring of our non-resident scholarship programs will allow the University to become more competitive for students from these states, who may not otherwise consider an out-of-state university,” Kopp said. “We believe a major increase in applicants from these states is feasible within the first three years following implementation of the plan.”