Centre County students guaranteed admission to Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania
This story has been updated to reflect that all Centre County school districts now have an agreement with the Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania.
All Centre County public high school graduates will now have guaranteed admission to the Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania.
State College board of directors approved an agreement with the Commonwealth at a Monday night meeting. Superintendents at Bellefonte Area, Philipsburg-Osceola, Penns Valley Area and Bald Eagle Area school districts announced similar agreements on Wednesday.
Under the agreement all graduates will have guaranteed admission to the Bloomsburg, Lock Haven or Mansfield campuses as well as on-campus housing for up to four years. Students must apply prior to Dec. 15 of their senior year to qualify and meet all application requirements.
Commonwealth University will also provide scholarship opportunities to students meeting certain grade point average requirements. The four tiers of the scholarship are:
3.8-4.0 GPA $7,000 per year
3.5-3.79 GPA $6,000 per year
3.0-3.49 GPA $4,000 per year
2.5-2.99 GPA $3,000 per year
Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield Universities combined as the Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania in March. The decision was made to help boost enrollments, provide more opportunities and strengthen the universities financial standing.
Enrollment for the three universities has fallen in recent years, with 12,468 students enrolled in the 2021-22 school year, down from 13,391 in 2020-21 according to the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.
According to the contract, the agreement will allow the universities to “attract a more diverse population of students who have already demonstrated academic success.”
State College board vice-president Amy Bader said this opportunity can be life-altering for students and families.
“As an individual who received a very similar type of award that enabled me to go to a school that I would not have been able to go to otherwise, these kinds of grants can be really remarkable,” Bader said.
The agreement will last until 2027 with the current seniors being the first to benefit.
Some programs, such as nursing or select science programs, are selective and have limited capacity so students are encouraged to apply earlier.
This story was originally published October 18, 2022 at 2:12 PM.