Come February, Marquette will make its last move when it awards the Ignatius Scholarship, which may secure this school as the final choice for many potential students.,”

With Marquette's application rate up 16 percent this year, more high school seniors are considering Marquette as their future alma mater.

When Marquette awards Ignatius Scholarships in February, it may secure this school as the final choice for many potential students.

The Ignatius Scholarship – awarded last fall to 45 percent of incoming freshmen – is a merit-based scholarship ranging from $5,500 to $9,500 and renewable for up to four years. The Ignatius Magis enhancements bring the top award to $11,500. While this may help ease the blow of paying more than $33,000 for tuition and fees, it has not done enough.

Tuition has been steadily increasing by an average of about 6.5 percent each year over the past four years, and yet there will be only a $500 increase starting this fall semester in the Ignatius Scholarship.

Although this particular scholarship does not take candidates' financial need into account, it needs to recognize that this incentive will not be enough for many deserving applicants to choose Marquette.

The admissions department employs Marquette's motto of cura personalis when awarding this scholarship, said Molly Thompson, an undergraduate admissions counselor. It looks at each applicant's GPA, academic record, test scores, leadership and community service to decide who falls into the lucky group of recipients.

Marquette uses funds combined from endowments and tuition for the scholarship, said Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Roby Blust. If Marquette would just reach a little deeper into these resources, it could make this scholarship a vital selling point for the university.

The Ignatius Scholarship is a great way to attract students and make them feel like Marquette really wants them here. But the university cannot ignore rising tuition rates and should use this scholarship as a way to offset that unfortunate trend.

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