Starting next fall, Kentucky high school graduates who have a financial barrier for attending college, based on their Federal Pell Grant status, can have 100% of their tuition and fees covered through a new scholarship at Bellarmine University.
The university’s Hope Kentucky Scholars Program is a commitment to making college possible for talented Kentucky students who might otherwise not pursue a degree.
“Cost is a barrier for so many of our talented students in the Commonwealth," said Lauren Keeling, Assistant Vice President of Enrollment Management and interim Dean of Admission. "Bellarmine's goal is to help them accomplish their dreams and achieve their highest potential, no matter their financial background.”
The Hope Kentucky Scholars Program covers 100% of tuition and fees – including textbooks – for traditional first-year students who graduated from a public, private or home school in Kentucky. The program’s funding is applied to any remaining costs for a student after all other institutional, state and federal funds have been applied. As long as the student is admitted to Bellarmine and stays enrolled full time, files the FAFSA each year by December 1 and remains eligible for federal Pell grants, the funding is renewable for eight semesters.
Typically, about 30% of first-year Bellarmine students are eligible for Pell grants.
The Hope Kentucky Scholars Program is one of several initiatives at Bellarmine to focus on college affordability. In recent years, Bellarmine also unveiled Public Price Promise, a unique merit scholarship, which matches the direct cost of qualifying students’ state flagship university – that’s often a state’s largest, oldest public university.
About Bellarmine University: Bellarmine (Louisville, Ky.) is an inclusive independent Catholic university with strong liberal arts focus that educates students in mind, body and spirit for meaningful lives, rewarding careers, ethical leadership and service to improve the human condition. Founded in 1950, Bellarmine offers more than 60 majors with an undergraduate and graduate enrollment of nearly 3,500 students and has an alumni community of more than 26,000. The Bellarmine Knights field teams in 22 Division I sports, most in the ASUN conference. Bellarmine is listed as a top U.S. university by publications including The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report.