Press "Enter" to skip to content

New Scholarship Gives Students Hope

BY EMMA ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER

Breanna Shievdayal recipient of the Hope Scholarship-Photo taken by Emma Robinson

The new Hope scholarship awarded on campus gives academically successful students who come from households with low financial standing the ability to attend LIU tuition-free.

The Hope scholarship is for New York residents with an SAT score of at least 1100 and an average grade of 90 percent or higher for all classes taken while in high school.

“The scholarship program has people from admissions go out and try to recruit for different high schools,” Deidre Moore, director of Hope Scholars and LIU Promise coach, said. “We always like to have high achieving, high academic students, so we go out and try to get the best.”

Selected students began receiving the scholarship for the fall 2019 semester.
The scholarship was created to inspire students by offsetting the cost of tuition, which is currently $36,452 a year.

“It is the idea that it doesn’t matter where you start. It gives you a chance to come to school and follow whatever your dreams are,” Moore said.

The financial aid department on campus considers all New York residents who meet the academic requirements previously mentioned. In addition, the student must have an estimated family contribution of zero to receive the scholarship.

Hope recipient Breanna Shievdayal, a premedical freshman biology major, believes the scholarship is her prime reason for attending LIU.

“It helps me with being able to afford the other costs of college… because living in a dorm on campus is so expensive,” Shievdayal said.

When Shievdayal opened her acceptance letter, she was ecstatic to learn that the scholarship covered the cost of tuition.

“[The scholarship] gives me a reason to stay here,” she said. “It really gave
me hope.”

There are currently 32 Hope scholars on campus, and up to 110 incoming freshman have the chance to receive it for the fall 2020 semester.

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *