MTSU continues recruiting push with new ‘True Blue Scholarship’

Middle Tennessee State University continues developing financial incentives to attract new students to its Blue Raider family, the latest being a new guaranteed scholarship that may hold the key to helping some students earn their degrees.

MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee brought the breaking news to guests attending the recent kickoff for the 2019 True Blue Tour student recruiting event in Murfreesboro — information he will share at the 13 remaining cities the university will visit as well.

MTSU unveiled a new True Blue Scholarship — $2,000 a year guaranteed for four years — as an added incentive available in fall 2020 for students with a 3.5 GPA or higher and with an ACT score between 23 and 24.

McPhee’s announcement, during an admissions tour event where MTSU personnel met hundreds of prospective students and their parents, comes following MTSU’s revelation a year ago about the Presidential Scholarship — $4,500 a year for four years and $18,000 altogether for qualifying students with a 3.5 GPA and ACT score between 25 and 29 — the largest guaranteed scholarship of its kind awarded in Tennessee.

“This is the kind of news I love to break,” McPhee told the crowd in the Student Union Ballroom. “For many of you, it will mean more money in your pockets.”

“Let me be clear,” he said, emphatically, referring to potential True Blue Scholarship recipients. “These are exceptional students who proved they could succeed in high school academics. At an ACT of 23 or 24, they are above the MTSU all-freshman ACT average. We are so happy they are considering MTSU. That’s why we want to sweeten the deal with this new award.”

The president told the enthusiastic crowd from Rutherford and surrounding counties that when combined with the Hope Lottery Scholarship, “it means these students will be attending MTSU for less than 50 percent of our tuition rate.”

“We are one of the few universities that offer guaranteed academic scholarships for these excellent students scoring in this range of the ACT,” McPhee added. “And we are making this investment in the True Blue Scholarship because we are confident that this boost, combined with the Hope (scholarship), makes MTSU an even greater value.”

Prospective students must apply by Dec. 1 to be considered for these and other scholarships.

Rutherford County True Blue Tour attendee Jaia Peterson, 17, a Blackman High School senior who actually qualifies for a Trustees Scholarship ($5,000 a year for four years), said the scholarship “means not having such a difficult time paying for college.”

While undecided but leaning toward political science, she plans to follow in the footsteps of sister Paige Peterson (Class of 2019 majoring in psychology) and brother Eddie Peterson (’18 and a Jones College of Business major).

At Blackman, Jaia Peterson, who is in the Blaze band and a member of the National Honor Society, is taking advanced placement (AP) and MTSU dual enrollment classes.

“MTSU is pretty much the place I want to go,” she said. “I could go somewhere else, but I’m not looking. “It’s a pretty good school. You can get a good education without having to go far.”

MTSU will host a recruiting event, Rutherford County College Night, starting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4, in the Student Union Ballroom. Following a True Blue Preview day on campus Saturday, Sept. 21, it will resume the True Blue Tour Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 25-26, when it travels to Huntsville and Birmingham, Alabama.

True Blue Tour, True Blue Preview and daily campus tours are free to attend for high school, homeschool and transfer students. To learn more, visit www.mtsu.edu/rsvp.

MTSU has more than 300 combined undergraduate and graduate programs.