William Carey University announces “Making College Affordable” – a major restructuring of its financial aid program.

Starting in fall 2023, it will mean an average increase of 40 percent in scholarship amounts awarded to freshmen, transfer, and international students. It also means free textbooks for undergraduate students and no tuition increase over fall 2022.

This initiative was among Dr. Ben Burnett’s first priorities in August 2022 as he assumed a new role as the university’s president.

“While Carey has always been competitive with other institutions in Mississippi, and in most cases less expensive, we felt our scholarship structure was outdated and needed to reflect the needs of our students today,” Burnett said.

“We want all students to have the option of choosing a Christian higher education. Hopefully, these changes will make that possible for many more students in the future. We don’t ever want financial hardship to prevent a student from enrolling at Carey.”

WCU’s academic scholarships are ranked in four tiers and awarded based on factors like scores on ACT and SAT tests for freshmen, college grade point average for transfer students and whether the student lives on-campus or off-campus. Under the new structure, scholarships will range from $5,100 to $9,300 per year for students who live on campus, and $2,700 to $6,600 for commuters.

The new program also includes Church-Related Vocation scholarships for ministerial students – increasing those awards to $9,000 for on-campus students and $6,300 for commuters.

“One of the things I’ve learned talking to prospective students and families is that people assume William Carey’s tuition is high because it’s a private university. That’s never been the case. We kept tuition low – but now, we’ve raised our scholarships to unprecedented amounts. Students can absolutely afford to pursue their educational dreams at William Carey,” said Dr. Brett Golson, dean of the Cooper School of Missions and Ministry Studies.

For more information, visit https://wmcarey.edu/MakingCollegeAffordable