By McKenna Horsley

[email protected]

UK’s Office of Undergraduate Enrollment Management has decided to remove the study abroad stipend included with past Singletary and Patterson scholarship packages for incoming students.

The stipend previously gave Singletary and Patterson scholars $2,000 to use toward summer study abroad programs. According to a spokesperson in the Academic Scholarship Office, current Patterson students and Singletary scholars will keep their $2,000 study abroad stipend.

“The changes to Singletary scholarships are part of finding the right balance in our scholarship program,” said Jay Blanton, executive director of UK Public Relations and Marketing in a press release.

Both the Singletary and Patterson scholarship packages include full tuition, room and board. Singletary scholars must have a 33 on their ACT and participate in a competitive interview process. The Patterson scholarship is automatic for National Merit Finalists who choose UK.

“I definitely think (higher achieving students) do improve UK’s overall test scores. And a lot of honors students only come here because they had such generous financial packages,” computer science and linguistics sophomore and Patterson scholar Aaron Mueller said.

Mueller said UK was not his top choice when applying to colleges, but the benefits of the Patterson scholarship were a major factor in his decision to attend.

Executive Director of Education Abroad and Exchanges Anthony Ogden does not think future Singletary scholars and Patterson scholars will shy away from study abroad programs. Ogden said honors students are about three times more likely to study abroad while they are at UK than their peers.

“High achieving students study abroad,” Ogden said. “Most of those students actually used that money because it was a summer scholarship. Truthfully, Patterson students and Singletary Scholars should study abroad for a whole semester.”

UK has exchange programs with universities across the world. Ogden said these programs allow students to pay the same price as UK tuition, and most scholarships will transfer.

Education Abroad often lacks applicants for scholarships it offers. One such scholarship is the Diversity Abroad Scholarship. The scholarship includes a voucher between $2,500 and $5,000 a student may redeem within two years of being awarded the scholarship. Only six students applied in the past year.

The Education Abroad Office encourages students to also apply for external scholarships to fund their education abroad experiences in addition to UK scholarships.

UK will have about 1,300 students participating in Education Abroad programs this year. According to Education Abroad’s website, 1,100 students participated last year. These numbers are expected to increase over the next few years.

Susan McVey, an Education Abroad Advisor, encourages students interested in study abroad to visit the Education Abroad center in the 3rd floor of Bradley Hall, especially if students need help funding their study abroad experience.

“As long as they do a little more research, and always come talk to us about it, we are knowledgeable and a good resource for them to say, ‘No, there are other programs out there that we can fit to your needs,’” McVey said.