Three new merit scholarships, the Provost Scholarship, the 1783 Scholarship and the Presidential Scholarship, will be offered for the class of 2024.

The Provost scholarship is worth $30,000 each year and is worth $120,000 toward tuition for eight semesters of full-time study at the college, according to the Dickinson College website. The 1783 scholarship is worth $25,000 each year and is worth $100,000 toward tuition for eight semesters of full-time study at the college, according to the Dickinson College website. The John Dickinson scholarship is worth $20,000 each year and the Benjamin Rush scholarship is worth $15,000 each year. Both scholarships have been offered for students matriculating prior to Fall 2020 and will be offered to the class of 2024.  

The Dickinson College website says that the Provost, 1783, John Dickinson and Benjamin Rush scholarships “reflect academic achievement, challenging oneself in and beyond the classroom and engaging in one’s community.” The admissions committee determines which scholarship will be awarded to an individual applicant based on their individual application. 

Vice President for Enrollment and Dean of Admissions Cathy Davenport ’87 explained that to be considered for the Provost and 1783 scholarships an applicant does not need to submit an additional application. Admissions will use the information submitted on the Common Application to consider all students for the Provost and 1783 Scholarships.  

The Presidential scholarship worth $35,000 per year and is worth $140,000 toward tuition for eight semesters of full-time study at the college. According to the Dickinson College website, the scholarship is “Dickinson’s highest recognition for academic achievement and leadership.” To be considered for the scholarship, applicants must submit a separate application and two additional essays. Recipients of the Presidential scholarship will participate in special programming each semester with President Ensign at Dickinson. 

The Dickinson College website explains that merit scholarships are offered because the college is “committed to recognizing superior talent and service, regardless of financial need, as we seek students who will benefit from and contribute to Dickinson’s vision: to be actively engaged with the wider world and challenged to think differently and act boldly.”

Davenport said that when looking at applications, “we will be looking for students in the applicant pool who have strong academic achievement, have challenged themselves in and beyond the classroom and have been engaged in their communities.”

Davenport explained that the implementation of three new merit scholarships came from “discussions last spring with President Ensign and President’s Staff, members of the Enrollment and Marketing Committee of the Board of Trustees, as well as the Chair of the Enrollment and Student Life Committee, we made the decision to increase the amounts of our merit scholarships, which had not been changed since 2008.”

Nick Leidy ’22 said “I think the scholarship just emphasizes Dickinsons commitment to providing an education to those who really want it.” He continued and said that the increase in merit scholarships offered allows people to receive an education without money being a barrier. Cammie Charron ’22 said “we [Dickinson] were mentioned in a book [Privileged Poor by Anthony Jack] I’m reading for a sociology class for accepting mainly upper income students, so any way for us to get a better, more representative student body and make higher education more accessible is a good thing.” Tristian Clark ’22 said “I honestly think there are plenty of scholarship opportunities here at Dickinson, but it never hurts to expand more.”