THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 26, 1996 TAG: 9609260307
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KIA MORGAN ALLEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 90 lines
Leilani Antolin says that when it comes to choosing colleges, ``Money always comes to mind.''
That's why the 18-year-old works part time at Rack & Sack - so her mother, a housekeeper, won't have to contribute too many of her hard-earned dollars toward Leilani's 15-hour courseload at Norfolk State University.
Actually, her mother doesn't have to pay anything. Antolin's salary covers her brand-new Dodge Neon. And tuition? It's partly taken care of by NSU's presidential scholarship, one of two new programs in the school's latest effort to attract high-caliber students.
``I came down to choosing between Norfolk State and ODU,'' she said, but she preferred what NSU offered. ``Money was a problem, and ODU didn't really offer me anything.'' Antolin, a Lake Taylor High School grad, maintained a 3.5 grade point average. She received a $1,500 presidential scholarship for the year at Norfolk State, which covers a little more than half of her annual $2,865 tuition expenses. Additional grants and scholarships help foot the bill.
Antonin is one of 175 presidential scholars on campus through the two-year-old program. There are also 125 recipients of the Board of Visitors scholarship, started this year for out-of-state students.
A student must have a 3.0 grade point average coming into the university for the presidential scholarship, which offers a flat award of $1,500. Board of Visitors scholars can have a minimum average of 2.7 and receive from $750 to $3,500 to cover the higher out-of-state tuition costs. Students must score at least 800 out of a possible 1600 on the Scholastic Achievement Test for either award.
NSU's tuition for in-state students is $1,432.50 per semester, while out-of-state tuition is $3,246. Close to $500,000 has been budgeted for both of this year's programs, said admissions director Frank Cool, who heads the presidential scholarship program.
The scholarships are renewable each year if students maintain the average within their program's guidelines. Students must also be active in the school's honors program.
NSU's scholarship programs are part of the university's attempt to improve standards by putting heavy emphasis on students' academic backgrounds.
``We are trying to recruit those outstanding students from high school, and we are seeking out students from high schools with good academic records,'' said Marty Miller, student affairs associate vice president and head of the Board of Visitors scholarship program.
NSU has at least 10 academic scholarships earmarked for first-time freshmen, such as the Dozoretz National Institute for Minorities in Applied Sciences program, which awards a full scholarship to 25 to 30 incoming freshmen with a 3.0 GPA. The school also recently started a program with the city of Norfolk that will award full tuition for four years to 10 Norfolk residents who maintain a 3.0 GPA at the university.
Other four-year state supported schools like Virginia Wesleyan and Old Dominion offer academic scholarship awards that can range from a year's tuition to $40,000 for four years.
Like others in the program, Kenny Spurlock of Richmond chose NSU over a scholarship to Virginia State University. He was also accepted to Virginia Commonwealth University.
Spurlock maintained a 3.5 GPA in high school and turned down a full basketball scholarship to Saint Paul's College in Lawrenceville. The freshman was awarded a $1,500 presidential scholarship.
``It (NSU) was better than VCU and I liked the campus of Norfolk better than Virginia State,'' he said.
Spurlock, an accounting major, said he recently received two additional scholarships that will help with tuition and other costs like books. He'd eventually like to play basketball for NSU, but doesn't intend to let anything stand in the way of academic progress.
``I'm staying on top of my classes,'' he said.
Canishia Shepard, a freshman at NSU, came to the campus and concluded, ``This is the place for me.''
She had a 3.7 GPA at Capitol High School in Charleston, W.Va., was a member of the National Honor Society, played volleyball and graduated in the top tenth of her class. But money was a concern.
``I applied for so many scholarships,'' she said, until NSU offered her a Board of Visitors scholarship for her high achievement.
Michael Mack, a New York native, was awarded a $3,500 Board of Visitors scholarship. He chose NSU from a list of acceptances including Clark-Atlanta University, Iona University, Syracuse University, Howard University and Manhattan College.
``I feel honored that I was chosen,'' he said about the scholarship program. ILLUSTRATION: MIKE HEFFNER/The Virginian-Pilot
Canishia Shepard, left, Michael Mack, Kenny Spurlock and Leilani
Antolin are four of the 300 students who receive Norfolk State
University scholarships designed to attract high-caliber high school
students to the school. The two programs offer awards worth $750 to
$3,500.
KEYWORDS: SCHOLARSHIP NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY by CNB