Good News for Readmit Students at Frostburg State

Scholarship money is available for the re-entry (readmit) students who are returning to Frostburg State University after a leave of absence. If a student was awarded a scholarship at Frostburg when they were originally admitted to the university and then later returned to FSU after an official leave of absence, then that student’s original scholarship can be restored if the they meet the current requirements.

Patricia Gregory, the Director of Admissions at FSU explains this further. “Concerning scholarships awarded by the Admissions Office, there are not any merit-based scholarship funds earmarked for re-entry students.  If a student was awarded a merit-based scholarship when they were originally admitted as a first-year student or transfer student, and if they return to the university after an official ‘Leave of Absence’, their merit scholarship is restored, provided they have met the renewal requirements.”

A readmit student is defined differently at each university. At Frostburg, a readmit student is defined as a student who attended FSU previously but did not earn a degree. This student then decided to take a break for a semester or more by not continuing on with their college education, or by transferring to another college. This student would then later return to FSU to finish their degree after taking that break or transferring. On Frostburg’s website, there is a page for re-entry applicants which provides the application requirements and the deadlines for the re-entry students. The application requirements for the re-entry students is to complete an application for admission and to check the re-entry box under the classification section on the admissions application. If the re-entry student attended another university, that student is required to send an official academic transcript from that university to FSU. Students are admitted to FSU on a rolling basis, but the priority deadline to apply for the upcoming fall semester is June 1st and the priority deadline for the upcoming spring semester is December 1st.

Since 2005, Frostburg has had 936 readmit undergraduate students. Last year, in the fall of 2016, there was 57 readmit undergraduate students attending FSU. The data for this current year, the fall of 2017 is not published yet. Re-entry students make up a small population at FSU. I was unable to find any re-entry students on campus nor do I know of any other re-entry students attending other universities.

The process for the re-entry student is the same as when the student originally applied to the university. Re-entry students at FSU are “looked at as though they never left”. If the returning student was originally awarded money, they are also “eligible for the same aid” as Kelli Kidwell from the Financial Aid office explained. In fact, if the student knows that they are going to be taking an official leave of absence, they can let the offices at FSU know and the student will never be taken out of the system. So, when that student decides to return to FSU, they do not need to reapply to the university again. Frostburg will view the student as though they never left the university in the first place. On the other hand, if a student was dismissed from the university or put on academic probation, the student is then required to meet the academic progress standards in order to come back to FSU.

As stated above, Patricia Gregory provided the information that there are not any merit-based scholarship funds earmarked for re-entry students. However, Frostburg offers merit-based scholarships as well as a variety of other scholarships that are funded by the FSU Foundation. Although some of the scholarships funded by the FSU Foundation may have individual requirements, re-entry students are allowed and encouraged to apply for those scholarships if it is before the March 1st deadline. Re-entry students are also allowed and encouraged to apply for any scholarships in their major.

Concerning the scholarships funded by the FSU Foundation, Janelle Moffett the Director of Administration and Finance at the FSU Foundation explains, “The FSU Foundation does not have any scholarship funds that are specifically designed to attract former FSU students to return and complete their degree.  These potential students would however be eligible for any Foundation scholarships that they are eligible for based upon program of study, residence, number of credits already earned, etc.”

If the returning student was not originally awarded scholarship money at FSU, it is unlikely that the student will receive any scholarship money from the university this time around.  Likewise, if the student was not previously awarded a merit scholarships, and if it is past the March 1st deadline for the FSU Foundation scholarships, and if it is also past the deadline for scholarships in the returning student’s major, there is not any designated fund set aside at FSU to help those types of students. In this case, the student would have to seek other outside scholarships that they would be qualified for and able to meet the deadlines.

“Should someone want to return they are eligible for scholarships, there just isn’t a specific scholarship with that being the sole purpose,” as Janelle Moffett goes on to state.

I was also referred to speak with the Director of Financial Aid at FSU multiple times concerning this topic, but I was unable to get in touch with the Director of Financial Aid.

 I contacted Clarion University, Kean University, and Fitchburg State University to examine how these three peer institutes of Frostburg State handle re-entry students, and the scholarships that the re-entry students at these universities are eligible for.

I contacted Clarion University located in Clarion, Pennsylvania inquiring about this information. I was unable to speak with anyone. On Clarion’s website, the university provides an Academic Forms page which includes an Application for Readmission. The Application for Readmissions is for students who are returning to Clarion after a period of absence. Clarion states on their website that “Undergraduates will fill this out if they have been out 1 semester or more. Graduate Students will fill this out if they have been out 1 year or more.” On the Academic Forms page, Clarion also provides an Academic Renewal form which is for “academic forgiveness after a period of absence.” This form has specific qualifications that the student is required to meet.

Regarding Kean University located in Union, New Jersey, I was referred to their website to locate the following information. Kean’s office of Student Success and Retention deals with the students who are interested in re-enrolling at Kean. Kean states the requirements for readmit and reinstated students on their Re-Enrollment Services page. Their readmit students, who are in good standing, have to apply for readmissions if they did not attend Kean for two or more consecutive semesters. In order to be eligible for readmission at the university, the student has to meet all of the following seven requirements listed on their Re-Enrollment Services page on their website. If the readmit student attended another university, there is a separate list of instructions for that student to follow.

Another peer institute I examined was Fitchburg State University located in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. I was referred to the Registrar Office at Fitchburg where Linda M. Dupell, from the University Registrar provided the following information. “Re-admitting to FSU is just a matter of completing a re-admit form, which only takes a couple of minutes.” At Fitchburg, students who leave the university and are interested in returning have to complete the readmission application provided on their website. Once the student submits the readmission application, their record will be reviewed and then the student will receive an email about their current student status. If the student is returning to Fitchburg State from an out of state address the student will be readmitted as an out-of-state resident. The student must complete a Residency Reclassification form if they meet the requirements for the in-state residency.

I was unable to find out further information regarding whether Clarion University, Kean University, or Fitchburg State University offer specific scholarships to their readmit students or how their scholarship process works for their readmit students.

Janelle Moffett, the Director of Administration and Finance at the FSU Foundation, Patricia Gregory, the Director of Admissions, and Kelli Kidwell, a Financial Aid Counselor essentially all provided the same information regarding readmit students at FSU. Re-entry students are encouraged to apply for scholarships in their major and for scholarships funded by the FSU Foundation as long as it is before the March 1st deadline. Scholarships money is available for readmit students if they were originally awarded that money, but there is not any specific fund, or any specific scholarship designed for the sole purpose of a re-entry student.