Courtesy of Marshall University

Honors College Dean Brian Hoey

The new Top Scholars program will make the scholarship application process simpler for incoming Honors students, said the dean of the Honors College.

Dean Brian Hoey said the new Top Scholars program would make the process for the prestigious scholarships not just easier, but put them all in one place.

“One of the considerations that we’ve had has been that we have a range of really outstanding opportunities for students that, when treated as separate things, can be confusing when it comes to a prospective student looking at Marshall,” Hoey said.

Hoey said the Top Scholars would put the Yeager scholarship, the Hedrick scholarship, the Hodges scholarship and the 1837 scholars in one application. While filling out the application, Hoey said students could either apply for all the scholarships or specify certain ones.

“They can tell us right in the application, ‘What am I applying for’,” Hoey said. “If it’s the Yeager, and that’s the only thing they’re interested in, that’s all they’ll be considered for; but they can still be offered something else.”

While the application process is simplified, Hoey said the individual scholarships still have their individual requirements for eligibility.

“It is a singular application, but ultimately there are some stipulations,” Hoey said. “Historically, donors were specific about, among other things, residency. I mean, generally, people when they were giving to Marshall, who were themselves from West Virginia, would say we’re only going to give this to a student from West Virginia.”

Alongside simplifying the process for potential students, Hoey said the new program would also benefit the Honors College by allowing applications to be accepted and processed at a more efficient rate.

This year has marked the first recruitment cycle for the program. Hoey said multiple high school students have expressed joy at the new process.

“They were just like, ‘Oh great, I can just go here and apply for all these different things you’re telling me about,’” he said. “They just seemed really excited again with the simplicity of having that and knowing they’ll be considered for a number of different things.”

Nolan Duncan can be contacted at [email protected].