Students in online degree programs at the University of Arkansas must apply by June 15 to be considered for the new W.E. Manning Memorial Scholarship, to be awarded in fall 2018.

Faculty, advisors, administrators and friends are asked to share this deadline with students in online degree programs.

Up to four U of A students studying in online degree programs can benefit from scholarships of $2,000 each. The application is available on the University of Arkansas ONLINE website, which promotes the 30 online degree programs offered by U of A colleges.

Scholarship candidates must demonstrate financial need, academic merit or significant community service. The scholarship committee will give preference to Arkansas residents and first-generation higher education students. For scholarship purposes, a student will be defined as a first-generation student if neither parent earned a higher education degree.

The U of A Academic Scholarship Office will announce the awards about 45 days after the June 15 deadline. Scholarships will apply to tuition and fees for the fall 2018 and spring 2019 semesters.

"Students seek online programs and courses to help them overcome the barriers of time, distance and life demands," said Donald Judges, vice provost for distance education and head of the Global Campus. "The W.E. Manning Memorial Scholarship will help to lift another barrier — cost."

Judges announced the Manning scholarship in April at an open house to celebrate the completion of building renovations, which were done to enhance support for the development and delivery of online, distance and workforce development education.

Candidates must be enrolled in online degree programs from the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences; the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences; the Sam M. Walton College of Business; the College of Education and Health Professions; the College of Engineering; or the School of Law.

The scholarship honors the memory of William E. Manning, a passionate U of A educator who joined the Global Campus in 1975 and died in 1993. Manning, 51, was Director of Credit Studies, an office that now facilitates U of A Self-Paced Online Courses.

Manning, a lifelong learner, was close to completing a U of A doctorate degree at the time of his death. During the All-University Commencement in May, the university awarded a posthumous Doctor of Education in Adult Education degree to Manning.

The work Manning and others did in the 1980s and 1990s set the foundation for what has become the Global Campus, a service unit dedicated to helping academic colleges develop and deliver high-quality online education and workforce development programs. The Global Campus provides instructional design services, technology services, media services and assistance with marketing, recruiting and strategic academic development.

Gifts can be made to the Manning Scholarship fund through the U of A's Online Giving site.