The scholarship provides eligible students with $15,000 per year for up to eight semesters. First-year students may also receive an additional $13,700 if they live in university housing for their first year.

To be considered for the scholarship, which is being called the Point of the Mountain scholarship, students must have a 4.0 GPA at the time of admission and be a Utah resident.

Students who meet this requirement will automatically be considered for the scholarships without needing to fill out an additional application.

Steve Robinson, senior associate vice president for enrollment management, said as Utah’s demographics change, the university is recognizing that Utah County is growing fast and has one of the youngest populations in Utah.

“So we wanted to make sure that we were doing everything we can to provide, you know, a solid pathway for the best academically prepared students in Utah counties as we could,” he said.

For now, the scholarship will be funded by the university, Robinson said, but they expect donations from outside sources will eventually help fund the program.

“Nebo School District is very excited about the opportunity this scholarship provides for those students living in Utah County,” said Seth Sorensen, communications administrator at Nebo School District, in a statement. “We support any opportunity provided for our students to continue their education after leaving our schools and appreciate the efforts to reduce the high costs of higher education.”

Tuition at U of U for a Utah resident is estimated to be $9,400 for the 2023-24 school year with housing costs at approximately $13,700 per year.

Yearly tuition at Utah Valley University is about $6,270 and about $6,500 at Brigham Young University for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Robinson said Utah is unique as the state has many universities within 100 miles of one another, and a significant portion of Utahns live somewhere along the Wasatch Front. While there are already two major universities in Utah Valley — UVU and BYU — Robinson said U of U is confident in its “market share” in the area.

“We already feel that we’re getting a sizable population of students coming from Utah County. We certainly would hope that this, you know, enhances it in the long term,” he said.

Robinson said they have estimated that about 100-125 students will accept the scholarship, while the number of students who may be offered the scholarship is estimated to be 400-500 students.

“Students who have a 4.0 tend to have a lot of different scholarship options,” he said. “So there will be, you know, hopefully, a lot of people taking it. But we also know that this is an audience that has lots of opportunities and lots of options.”

According to Robinson, the scholarships are only available to graduates of public schools in the three school districts and does not include students from private or charter schools. But, he said, that could change in the future.