The University recently announced that the National Merit Scholarship package is being reduced starting with freshmen entering in fall 2013. As a National Merit Scholar, I’d like to ask: Who decided this was a good idea?

This school has spent the past 50 years trying to convince the rest of the world that we are about more than just football. Our difficulties in communicating that we have academic rigor are perhaps best conveyed by the author of “Forrest Gump,” who chose Alabama as the school that would admit someone with severe mental disabilities because he could play football. When I told my friends back in Texas that I was going to the University on a full scholarship from the National Merit Scholarship Program, I got more than my fair share of “oh, Run! Forrest! Run!”

The scholarship football players do have it pretty good: state-of-the-art dorms in Bryant Hall, specially designed meal plans that involve a lot of steak. You might say, “Well, that makes sense, a lot of them are five-star recruits, and we want to convince them to come here because we want the best football team possible, right?”

But, here’s the thing: National Merit Scholars are the academic equivalent of five-star recruits. If we wish to convince them to come here and help make this school the best it can be in an academic respect, we have to offer a competitive package.

Right now, our National Merit Scholarship package, four years of tuition and housing; stipend; study abroad grant; choice of iPad or real computer, is pretty comparable to what many public institutions offer.

Private schools generally offer slightly less – some of the offers I received included half tuition and a computer, full tuition and stipend and half tuition plus a housing price cut. Since the remaining costs at each of these schools came out to more than a quarter of my parents’ six figure annual income, I chose to pick from among the public schools’ more complete offers instead.

Alabama was an easy choice, as my legacy through my mother both meant I was familiar with the school and added another $1,000 scholarship per year. However, had my housing not been covered for all four years, I probably would have chosen from the five or six other schools where it was, simply as a cost consideration. I’m sure several others would do the same.

Most National Merit Finalists and scholars have no trouble gaining admission to prestigious private schools, so I would postulate that for many of the Finalists who choose to come here, the package offered features heavily in the considerations.

Admittedly, money shouldn’t be the only consideration in an educational decision, but the unfortunate fact is that in today’s economic climate, it often must be.

With tuition costs having more than doubled in the last 20 years, even after inflation adjustments, it’s become impossible to simply work one’s way through college – some form of loan, scholarship or financial aid is necessitated, unless your parents have very deep pockets.

On the other side of the degree, jobs are becoming harder and harder to find, and of course, one needs a job to pay back one’s loans. A higher degree offers more employment opportunities, but one faces the prospect of having to spend three to six more years earning said degree before entering a “real job” and finally beginning to pay back this debt. In this situation, student loans seem a very unfriendly option, and maximizing scholarship potential is highly desirable. Those who are conscientious about their future prospects will choose the option that minimizes the likelihood of owing money before they even graduate.

If the University wishes to continue to boost its academic merit and perception, it must treasure and reward high-performing academic students the same way it does high-performing student-athletes. This includes the substantial group of National Merit Scholars on campus. If they whittle away at the benefits offered to these students, they will find that the scholar population decreases as this group turns to schools of similar academic merit that offer a more competitive package in an attempt to avoid the downfalls of the current economic climate.

Danelle Pecht is a sophomore majoring in chemistry and chemical engineering.