In light of the economic woes felt throughout the state and country, Spring Arbor University is endeavoring to ease the burden of higher education costs for academically-proficient students. Starting Fall 2010, SAU has significantly raised the academic scholarship benefits for incoming freshman and transfer students.

Qualifying scholarships

Students become eligible for an academic scholarship according to the number of points they receive, based on point values derived from GPA, ACT or SAT scores, and class ranking. In addition to scholarship levels increasing, the point system has also been altered slightly, allowing for some students with a score that might have placed them in a lower category, to actually receive a higher level scholarship.

The academic scholarships have increased from a range of $3,000-$7,500 to a new range of $4,000 - $12,000.

“We are pleased to be able to increase our academic scholarship levels, as a means for providing greater recognition of the academic achievements of our future students. We believe that this will allow even more of our highly qualified prospective students to afford an excellent, Christ-centered education at Spring Arbor University, where they will receive preparation for a career and all of life,” says vice president for enrollment services, Matt Osborne.

New students who plan to participate in the SAU athletic program should communicate with their coaches regarding the integration of our academic and athletic scholarship programs.

The scholarship level increases apply to new students only and are renewable as long as students meet the academic requirements. The renewal GPA requirements range from a 3.2 to 3.5.

SAU financial aid snapshot

For the 2009-10 academic year, SAU provided an estimated $11 million in institutional aid. The estimated average financial aid package for fall 2009, first-time, main campus, freshman undergraduates totaled nearly $23,000.

SAU also offers a wide range of other scholarships and grants to students who possess a variety of skills and talents. Main campus, undergraduate students are eligible to receive athletic, art and music scholarships; scholarships for students from historically-excluded groups; endowed scholarships; grants based on financial status and minority status. Students also qualify for many state and federal grants and scholarships, such as the Michigan Competitive Scholarship, Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Academic Competitiveness Grant and SMART grants.

For students enrolled in one of our off-campus, adult-based undergraduate programs, and some of SAU’s graduate programs, SAU offers the iGNITE scholarship, which provides up to 20 percent off tuition costs, depending on the program.