I have a friend who exemplifies what it means to be a successful student at The University of Alabama. She is a first-generation college student with a 3.953 collegiate GPA. She holds memberships to numerous honor societies and impacts the campus and community through her work in the RISE program and as a resident advisor. Much like the students that Alabama is trying to attract through large scholarship offers, my friend embodies what this university looks for in a student.
Yet because of her ACT score, she faces financial troubles while others are provisioned by scholarships. She is contemplating leaving the school next semester in an effort to avoid excessive debt. Although the existence of the Presidential Scholarship has been a great boom for us, the University should also grant scholarships to those who do not have good standardized test scores from high school but are successful in college anyway.
The reasoning behind the Presidential Scholarship is to draw students who have the potential to be academically successful. But research indicates that standardized test scores are not as predictive of success as it seems. A study among schools that do not require the submission of standardized test scores compared the average collegiate GPAs of those who submitted test scores and those who did not. Surprisingly, PBS records that there was only a .05 percent difference between the average GPAs of the two groups.
Although standardized test scores can be used to verify or supplement high school GPA, they are not raw indicators of collegiate success and failure. The Presidential Scholarship ultimately attracts many students who could potentially be academically successful, and the recipients must keep a certain collegiate GPA in order to prove that they are academically successful.
In addition, the Presidential Scholarship is a wonderful tool because while it attracts and keeps those who are successful, it eventually roots out those who have good test scores but are unsuccessful at the University. While those who are unsuccessful are weeded from the scholarship system, however, those who are successful are never added into the system. Since the purpose of the Presidential Scholarship is to attract incoming freshman who are academically successful, we should reward students who have also proven themselves in college.
Furthermore, the school has the means to both keep the scholarships based on standardized test scores and add new scholarships based on collegiate success. If one examines the financial records ranging from August 2013 to August 2014, they will find that with the endowment, football revenue and tuition the school receives, it also reaps a hefty surplus each year. Not only does the University have enough money to start the program, but it might also make money off students attracted by the chance to earn a scholarship in future years. While some of these students would fail to earn a scholarship and thus provide revenue for the University, others would increase competition on campus and work tirelessly to make a positive impact on the community. Whatever result occurs from these scholarship seekers, the University benefits. The University either collects money, earns prestigious recognition or both.
The Giving Opportunities page on The University of Alabama’s website reads, “The University of Alabama attracts and retains the best and brightest students who succeed in making a positive difference locally, nationally, and across the globe throughout their lifetimes.” The University is certainly able to attract, but not always retain. The implementation of the Presidential Scholarship has given the University the ability to attract many students with the potential to make positive differences. However, until our school offers scholarships based on collegiate success, it will continue to lose students who, despite their ACT scores, make a positive difference every day.
TJ Parks is a freshman majoring in anthropology, history and journalism. His column runs biweekly.
