The Baker University Scholarship Recognition Day Saturday brought about 25 high school and transfer students to the Baldwin City campus to celebrate scholarships the students received from the university.
“The main purpose of Scholarship Recognition Day is to recognize the accomplishments of future Baker students,” Director of Enrollment Management Kevin Kropf said.
This year differs from years past because the focus is not on competition but recognition. The Scholarship Recognition Day also gives future students the opportunity to visit the campus.
“This day is a day-long college visit for the students,” Mark Bandre, vice president for enrollment management and student development, said.
While on campus, the students participated in a campus tour, led by current Baker University students.
“At certain times throughout the day, the students get to choose what sessions they will attend,” Bandre said.
The students had the opportunity to attend sessions, such as Liberal Arts 101, Financial Aid 101, Baker Life 101 and a Next Step session.
Kropf said the day gives students the opportunity to talk to professors from their chosen area of study and learn about department scholarships.
The biggest difference for the students considering Baker is that the university now offers a departmental scholarship option to all students. The different academic departments handle these competitive $12,000 scholarships. Each department determines its own application criteria for the scholarship.
Bandre said Baker’s academic scholarships have remained consistent for the past few years.
The scholarship recognition ceremony recognized the recipients of four academic scholarships.
Students were recognized for receiving the Departmental Scholarship, the Presidential Scholarship, worth $10,000, the Dean’s Scholarship, worth $8,000 and the Baker Academic Scholarship, worth $5,000.
Students eligible for the Harter Scholarship will be on campus Feb. 26.
The Harter Scholarship is a competitive scholarship worth full tuition plus the presidential scholarship.
The top 10 percent of admitted students are invited to participate in the competition.
“The competition is essentially an evaluation day,” Kropf said.
The students eligible to apply for the Harter Scholarship are evaluated on an essay, presentation and a short story they have to complete.
A committee of faculty members decides on the recipients of the Harter Scholarship.
Kropf said about $200,000 in academic scholarships will be given to incoming freshmen and transfer students for the fall 2011 semester.
“The overall amount of scholarship and financial aid dollars available to prospective students is quite consistent with what Baker has offered the last several years,” Bandre said.
Freshman Teresa Morse said the two things she remembers most about scholarship day were the staff interview and the group presentation.
“I was a nervous wreck for the interview, but I had nothing to be nervous about,” Morse said. “We ended up running out of time because the conversation was going so well.”
