UW-Stout Offering New Scholarships To Increase Affordability, Enrollment

The University of Wisconsin–Stout is offering performance-based scholarships to new students beginning next fall. The university has dubbed the scholarship its Blue Devil Guarantee, which provides anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000 to incoming freshman based on students’ ACT and SAT scores.

UW-Stout Provost Patrick Guilfoile said they’re offering the scholarships to make school more affordable for students.

“To try and make sure that students have the opportunity to come to UW-Stout,” said Guilfoile. “But, also, we certainly hope again that would increase the number of students who would come here and take advantage of our programs.”

Guilfoile said around 9,400 students attended UW-Stout last fall, which is about 200 fewer students than the previous academic year. The university is one of several UW campuses that has witnessed declining enrollment in recent years.

Over the long term, colleges and universities are seeing a growth in enrollment of students from low-income families, said Drew M. Anderson, an associate economist with the nonprofit research organization RAND Corporation.

“What colleges are trying to do is support that new influx of students, and one way they’re trying to do that is to try to keep prices down with grants and scholarships,” Anderson said.

Anderson added that the nationwide economic recovery is another trend that may be impacting colleges and universities.

“People have alternatives to going to college in terms of better job opportunities,” he said. “That makes it sort of a different picture for colleges as they’re trying to increase access, increase completion of degrees.”

Guilfoile said a number of factors are impacting UW-Stout’s enrollment, including the economy.

“As unemployment goes down, the number of prospective students coming to the university tends to go down as well, reflecting opportunities they have in the workforce,” he said.

Anderson said merit-based aid is more common among private non-profit colleges and public universities with large endowments.

Students with an ACT score of 22 and a 3.0 grade point average would qualify for a $1,000 scholarship. A $3,000 scholarship would be awarded to those with an ACT score of 27 or above and a 3.67 GPA. In 2017, UW-Stout awarded around $800,000 in scholarships.