The school offering the most scholarships is the J. Mack Robinson College of Business — but they are the second largest school at Georgia State based on student enrollment for last semester.
Since the spring of 2017, the College of Arts and Sciences has seen the largest number of students enrolled but has never offered the largest numbers of scholarships on the official Georgia State scholarship list.
“A higher amount of scholarships [should] be given out to those of all pathways [and] majors. Especially if the major is not as popular as others with multiple scholarship opportunities,” student Gary Johnson said.
Johnson, who is a philosophy major, feels there are not many scholarship opportunities for people with arts majors, and the scholarships that are offered are not specific.
“The scholarships that are offered are fair but maybe a little too general,” he said. “Certain [questions] felt like they could easily be answered the same by different applicants.”
Georgia State offers scholarships based on both financial need and academic merit. University-wide awards are also available for currently enrolled students who may apply for departmental scholarships that are major-related.
Scholarships vary, but preference is often given based on financial need determined by a student’s FAFSA. If a student receives federal aid, they are likely to qualify for other scholarships.
“I feel like more emphasis should be put on [scholarships], and they should be in places were they know students would take notice,” student Deonte Louissant said.
Louissant is an arts major and feels that not enough attention goes to publicizing Georgia State scholarships for non-STEM majors, making them harder to find.
The ratio of students to scholarships does not match when it comes to the Georgia State scholarship list.
While the College of Arts and Sciences may lead in enrollment numbers, they do not lead in the amount of grants offered. On the spring 2020 scholarship list, the department only selected 79 scholarships for the students to apply for.
This does not mean that all of the 13,017 students enrolled in this college will get a chance to apply for those 79 scholarships. Of that list several scholarships are divided by major, GPA, academic standing or a student’s class level.
There are 1,874 psychology majors in the Arts and Sciences department, but only six scholarships are applicable for them to apply out of the list.
Out of the 105 scholarships offered by Robinson College, the majority of the grants are open to all business majors to apply for them. While there are stipulations like GPA and class level, most students attending the college have permission to apply for the grant, regardless of major, unlike other colleges.
Students like Johnson feel this contributes to the reason many students do not receive scholarships.
“All I will say is that those scholarships really helped me find my education,” student Evan Malbrough said.
Malbrough said he applied for four scholarships and received all except one. He said the other three helped him pay for school and he was happy he had many options to choose from.
Many of the scholarships he applied for were online and only required an essay and his post-graduation plans.
Malbrough, a public policy major, asked his advisors to edit and read his essays which he felt made his applications process very easy.
The Andrew Young School of Public Policy has a small number of scholarships relative to the enrollment numbers of its students.
There are 1,891 students enrolled in the Andrew Young School and 30 grants available to those students.
The School of Education and Human Development has 23 scholarships for which their 2,766 students can apply.
Students also have the option to speak to their college administration or Student Government Association to ask questions about the scholarship list and to inquire about more grants being added to it.
Many students already pre-qualify to apply for university-wide scholarships by receiving financial aid.
Admitted students to Georgia State just need to search the scholarship list and see if they meet all the department qualifications — they can apply for as many scholarships as they want as long as they qualify.
While there may not be a lot of scholarships from the department, students still have other options to choose from when looking to apply for aid.
Students can receive financial aid, the HOPE and Zell Miller scholarships and grants. The student financial management center does monitor the amount of aid a student receives and works not to overcompensate students.
The deadline for university-wide scholarships is in February and students are notified in the middle of May on decisions. Departmental scholarship deadlines vary.
Finalists for university scholarships are reviewed by a committee and will be notified via email. If a student is selected, the student will receive a notification email that will include instructions on completing the necessary paperwork to receive the award.
