UAMS Non-Resident Academic Tuition Waiver – Summer Admits Only

Eligible: New and Continuing Summer Admit Students Only – Non-Arkansas Residents

Deadline to apply: February 18, 2022 at 4:30pm Central time
Deadline for recommendations: February 25, 2022 at 11:59pm Central time

Background and Purpose

The UAMS Non-Resident Academic Tuition Waiver program is established with the following objectives:

  1. Enable UAMS to recruit and retain students into its education programs who exhibit the highest level of academic achievement.
  2. Improve UAMS’ ability to compete with its peer institutions in other states for highly sought after students.
  3. Increase the geographic diversity of the applicant pools for UAMS education programs.
  4. Help defray rising cost of education for students from other states who could not afford to enroll at UAMS otherwise.

Priority will be given to awards that result in fulfilling strategic planning goals for UAMS, the college and/or program, including for example, goals for program competitiveness, or student scholastic achievement.

The recipient’s resident status (state of legal residence) will not be affected and will be categorized as out-of-state (non-resident) for admissions purposes.

Eligibility Criteria

  1. The applicant for the Non-Resident Academic Tuition Waiver (“applicant”) must plan to pursue an undergraduate or graduate degree or post-baccalaureate or advanced or graduate certificate at UAMS.
  2. The applicant must be enrolled for a minimum of 0.5 FTE (half-time), as defined by the program/college to which she/he is accepted.
  3. The applicant must be accepted by, or enrolled in, a UAMS college or the Graduate School for the period for which he/she is applying for the tuition waiver.

Application Process

  1. The applicant must submit to the Dean a completed Non-Resident Academic Tuition Waiver Application by published deadlines.
  2. The applicant must include a 500-word essay describing: a) his/her academic background and professional aspirations, with particular emphasis on challenges that the applicant has encountered, or continues to encounter; b) the impact that the tuition waiver would have on his/her ability to fulfill those plans and aspirations.
  3. The applicant must include two (2) letters of reference from persons familiar with his/her academic work and professional character. If the applicant provided letters of reference as part of the college’s/school’s admission packet, those letters may be used to fulfill this part of this application.

Selection Criteria

  1. Applicants must have an excellent academic record that promises a successful academic career. Since specific tests and other measures of academic performance vary widely, each college/school will establish written requirements for academic performance and those standards will accompany these program guidelines.
  2. Each college/school will judge the alignment of the applicant’s academic and professional goals with the goals of the college/program.
  3. Other factors that may be considered include academic citizenship, community involvement (service learning), and leadership.
  4. Preference will be given to applicants who: a) plan to stay in Arkansas after graduation; or b) have established ties to the state which increase the likelihood that they will stay in the state to work after graduation. These ties or connections to the state should be explained in the application. Applicants who cannot demonstrate these ties or intentions are still eligible to apply.

Administration

Application Schedule

  1. Applicants will apply to the Dean’s Office of each college according to a published schedule each year. Typically, colleges/school will set application deadlines relative to their individual admissions process.
  2. The deadline to submit an application is February 19, 2021 at 11:59pm Central time.  References will have until February 26, 2021 at 11:59pm Central time to submit recommendations.

Dean’s Responsibilities

  1. The Dean or his/her designee reviews applications and identifies applicants that meet the criteria and guidelines for the waiver. Applicants can be drawn from a college’s program(s) administered through the Graduate School.
  2. Awards can be made in any term during the year. There is no limit on the number of awards in each college or the graduate school.

Award Process

  1. The Dean is not required to award a specific number of waivers each year. Each Dean is expected to grant awards based on the number of candidates who meet the scholastic levels established and according to college/school budgets.
  2. The Dean submits completed applications and supplementary documents to the Provost for final review.
  3. The Provost approves the applications on behalf of the Chancellor.
  4. The tuition waiver will be valid for every term in which the student enrolls until she/he completes or leaves the program, provided the student remains in good standing.
  5. The waiver will reduce the amount of tuition from the non-resident tuition rate to the resident tuition rate for the program to which the applicant has been accepted.
  6. This tuition waiver cannot be used as cash or as a credit to a student’s account, only as a reduction in the amount/debt payable to UAMS for tuition at the in-state (resident) rate.
  7. No other tuition waiver programs can be applied at the same time to compound the tuition reduction*.
  8. Awards are not automatically transferrable from one program to another or from one college to another. However, a waiver granted by one program/college does not disqualify a student from being eligible to apply to a second program/college.

*Employee tuition discounts are not tuition waivers and can be applied to the post-waiver amount of tuition