FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – University of Arkansas Chancellor Joe Steinmetz has committed $5 million to increase recruitment and need-based scholarship aid, providing support to help support students with unmet need. These new funds will create more than 1,100 new scholarship awards for the 2020 recruitment cycle. The funds complement an additional $1 million distributed for scholarships this year. This commitment is being funded from other parts of the university budget.

“Serving students is part of our land-grant mission. After much analysis on the factors that support recruitment and retention of students, we are in a better position to understand the reasons why students choose to attend the university, and stay from the first to the second year,” Steinmetz said. “Our focus on increasing retention and graduation rates is key to serving students well. These additional scholarship funds will expand our efforts in doing just that.”

The new “First-Year Advantage” scholarship will be awarded to eligible incoming freshmen starting with the fall of 2020 incoming class. Advance Arkansas Scholarships, an award created to assist first-generation and low-income students, will also receive a portion of this new funding. More information about these awards is available at scholarships.uark.edu.

Applications for admission are now being accepted for the class of 2020.  Prospective students should apply by Nov. 1 and complete a scholarship application by Nov. 15 for priority consideration. The final scholarship deadline is Feb. 1. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) opens on Oct. 1 for students who will enroll for fall 2020.

“Students who have need will be given top consideration for these new University of Arkansas Advantage Scholarships,” said Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions. “Completing the FAFSA by Dec. 1 of the senior year is an important part of the student’s college application process. The FAFSA is also required for the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship and federal financial aid. We have a team of financial aid counselors who are happy to assist students and their families as they complete the FAFSA. Our office will be sending more information to prospective students and their parents this week.”

In support of the university’s land-grant mission, nearly 90 percent of all general scholarship funding is awarded to Arkansans.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among fewer than 2.7 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.