University of West Alabama aims to attract students along the Alabama-Mississippi border with new regional scholarship

LIVINGSTON, Ala. (WBRC) - The University of West Alabama wants to be the first choice for college among students along the Alabama and Mississippi border. To that end, the school started a plan several months ago that administrators say is helping change some minds.

The school recently created the West Alabama Regional Award, a $1,000 scholarship for local students who may be interested in attending UWA.

The scholarship is geared towards high school students in certain Black Belt counties in Alabama and other counties in east Mississippi.

A student must have a 2.5 GPA or a 17 on their ACT or comparable SAT score to qualify for the award. Additionally, students must live in on of several specific west Alabama or east Mississippi counties to be eligible for that scholarship.

Alabama counties eligible for the scholarship include:

Mississippi counties eligible for the scholarship include:

“It’s a $1000 a year. And its stacked on top of our other scholarships,” explained Libba Baker, the University of West Alabama’s Director of Undergraduate Admissions. “We want to reward our students in our region and really entice them to come to West Alabama because we know that UWA would be a great fit for them, especially those students that are in rural schools.”

UWA’s admissions office says more students have reached out to ask general questions about the University of West Alabama or accepted other scholarships from the college once they’ve been awarded a West Alabama Regional Award.

Students that meet the scholarship’s criteria and want to apply must first submit an admissions application and then complete the Trustee Scholarship Application.

For more information about the West Alabama Regional Award, visit UWA.edu.

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