university of north Carolina expands merit based scholarship program

college wants to attract more graduating seniors

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is to expand its existing merit-based scholarship program next fall to help attract more top high school graduating seniors from North Carolina and elsewhere.

"We want to keep more of the very best and brightest students from North Carolina at home," said Chancellor James Moeser. "At the same time, we will continue to honor this university’s innovative commitment to need-based financial aid to ensure deserving students will still have the opportunity to earn a Carolina diploma."

Beginning next fall, UNC-Chapel Hill’s latest merit-based scholarship initiative will offer fifty five North Carolina high school graduates with renewable merit-based scholarships based on academic achievements that are valued at $10,000 over four years. Another 5 out-of-state students will also benefit from merit awards worth $60,000 toward a four-year undergraduate degree.

"This is an excellent step toward enhancing our ongoing efforts to provide a significant number of merit-based scholarships that can make a real difference in enhancing future first-year classes that are already quite strong academically," Moeser said. "These scholarships are essential if we are going to continue competing effectively with the nation’s very best public and private colleges for the best students and faculty."

That change will allow 25 percent of those funds, which currently go to the department of athletics, to be used to generate a new pool of funds for merit-based scholarships.