It’s out with the old and in with the new in the financial aid department.

Missouri Southern has eliminated three of its scholarships. In the past, the Presidents’, Regents’ and Deans’ scholarships have been offered to incoming freshmen.

The Presidents’ scholarship was offered to potential students with an ACT score of 21 or higher and who graduated in the top two of their classes. The Regents’ scholarship was offered to students with an ACT score of 26 or higher and graduated in the top half of their class, while the Deans’ scholarship was for those ranked in the top 30 percent of their class with an ACT score of 23 or higher.

The Presidents’ was valued at $1,200 per year, the Regents’ at $800 a year and the Deans’ at $610 per year.

“They’re no longer in existence,” said Derek Skaggs, director of enrollment services.

The trio has been replaced by a duo, the Level I and Level II scholarships. They are different in numerous ways.

“We took our old scholarships and we changed the criteria and dollar amount,” Skaggs said.

He said Southern doubled the value of the scholarships.

The new scholarships run under a new set of criteria for eligibility. While in the old scholarships, the ACT score of a student seemed to be the leading factor, in the new ones, class rank will also be held high as a factor.

“Our objective was to make those awards more competitive for higher ability students,” Skaggs said.

For example, with the Level I scholarship, if a student has an ACT score of 26, they had to graduate in the top 26 percent of their class. In the Level II scholarship, for a score of 26, a student had to have graduated in the top 25-46 percent of their class. The Level I scholarship is valued at $1,750 per year, and the Level II scholarship is valued at $1,300 per year.

Mike Tripp, freshman kinesiology major, was awarded the Level I scholarship. He likes the fact that Southern changed the awards up a little. He appreciates that he receives more money than he would have from the old awards.

“Anything I can get helps,” Tripp said.

He said the amount of financial aid he received helped him to make the decision to come to Southern. He expects the raise in the scholarship will help bring in more students to the University.

He especially likes that students who didn’t necessarily do well on the ACT can now get the scholarship based upon how well they did in school. He said some people are not good test takers, but they may outrank their graduating class. Tripp said they deserve the award, too.

“They can manage to keep the standards,” he said.

Skaggs said the University changed the awards in April 2003. The scholarships haven’t been changed in years. He wanted to make an award that would give congratulations to more than just students with high ACT scores.

“It’s to reward students for their academic performance in high school,” Skaggs said.

So far, he said the response has been “really good.” Skaggs said more students are eligible for the scholarships under the new guidelines than were under the old ones. He thinks the new awards will attract more people to the University.

“We certainly hope that it will,” Skaggs said. “The idea is to get the higher ability students here.”

Tripp said he is afraid that since the University is giving out more in scholarships, it will raise tuition again.

Any student who was awarded the old scholarships will continue to receive those through their time of graduation. This fall’s incoming class was the first to receive the new awards.