A note on scholarship awards

Continuing to prep readers for the decisions that we will release soon*, I want to share a little insider info on scholarship awards.  Fletcher has a source of scholarship funds for new and continuing students.  All of the funds allocated for incoming students (including those who applied by the Early Notification deadline and were admitted in December) will be offered as scholarships this month, and admitted students will learn the amount of their scholarship award along with their admission decision.

But the situation is more complex than that.  If we have $100 in our special pot of scholarship cash, we don’t simply distribute $100.  Instead, we reckon that half of the award recipients will decide to continue working, attend another program, or, for whatever reason, decline our offer of admission.  This is predictably the case and, with enrollment history in mind, we actually distribute $200 in scholarships.  It’s a gamble, but if we’ve done our math right, it’s a safe gamble.

Why is this relevant for readers?  Let’s imagine that Jim and Bill are friends who have applied to Fletcher.  Both are admitted and receive $100 scholarships.  Bill decides to enroll at Fletcher, but Jim decides to postpone graduate school for a year.  Bill knows that Jim has received a $100 scholarship, and Bill would like to claim it for himself.  Alas, Jim’s award doesn’t represent actual cash that goes back in the pot.

At the end of the enrollment process, we’ll calculate how much genuine money has been added back to the scholarship account.  (Of course, if we make offers of admission to waitlisted candidates, they may also be offered scholarships.)  One thing you can be sure of is that we will distribute all of the available funds.  We don’t get to use them to order lunch or redecorate the Admissions Office.  Scholarship funds are for students, and every last dollar will be offered to someone who will study at Fletcher in the fall.

*soon=end of the business day tomorrow, EST