For students who live in the metro-Montgomery community and surrounding counties, Alabama State University is offering a new scholarship opportunity through the efforts of the Office of Admissions and Recruitment.
The CommUniversity Commuter Scholarship (CCS) was created after the university realized that on-campus housing for the 2023-24 academic would become an issue. While there was already a scholarship in place for out-of-state students, there was not anything for local students.
“We wanted to create a scholarship for students that didn’t require an ACT (American College Test) score or a SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) score,” said Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management and director of Admissions and Recruitment Freddie Williams, Jr., Ed.D. “This scholarship is merely based on GPA (grade point average).”
In an effort to boost local recruitment, the university created the commuter scholarship to benefit students not living on campus. The goal is to help build Alabama State University’s local enrollment and reserve campus housing for students coming in from outside Montgomery.
The scholarship awards $1,000 to students per semester. This money will be applied to the student’s bill.
In order to qualify, a student must have at least a 2.75 grade point average, have a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) on file, and they must live off campus. There are no age or classification limits, meaning that as long as a student meets the first three requirements, they are eligible.
“The scholarship is designed for freshmen and transfer students who are entering the university for fall 2023,” Williams said.
Since the scholarship is still new, the maximum number of students who can receive it this semester is 50. Since the scholarship is continuing, it will follow transfer students for two years, and freshmen for the next four years.
“Because of that, what looks like a small amount on paper over four years, gets a whole lot bigger,” Williams said. “Which is why we were conservative in our initial ask, so that we can get it approved. And if we can see that it’s working, it’ll be helpful for me to go out and ask for more money.”
Once the scholarship was approved, the university promoted it with flyers across campus and e-mails sent out to students on file at the time who lived in eligible areas Alabama State University covered. The scholarship covers five or six counties within driving distance of campus.
“Based on that, we sent out information to everybody we had registered from those counties,” said Williams. “We sent it out to the schools that were in those counties that qualified.”
According to Williams, the scholarship was also promoted with a news story on the official Alabama State University website.
While the intention behind the creation of the scholarship is to help students, some of them feel the university could have marketed this opportunity better.
According to Sanders, she heard more about the dress code than she did the new scholarship that would greatly benefit a lot of her friends who commute to campus.
When asked about the scholarship, it was freshman and commuter Laila Davis’ first time even hearing about it. “I think it’s a great opportunity, I just wish I had been better informed,” she said. “Being that I wasn’t informed, I’m sure there are a lot of other commuter students who weren’t informed as well. Maybe we can get it in the second semester.”
Sophomore Aaliyah Thomas also did not hear about the scholarship, and expressed thoughts that the university should have better utilized social media.
“I wish that they had broadcast it on more platforms involving student life,” Thomas said. “Maybe on Instagram. Other than that, I think it’s a really good idea.”
“One of the things we try to do as a university is address needs as we see them,” Williams said. “And this is one that we certainly saw as an issue. But to me it’s a win-win issue, because if they come, we get the student and they can get an education. So it’s a win-win for us to offer that scholarship.”
