Alcorn awarded over $1 million to fund agricultural science scholarships

The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has awarded $1,005,263.16 to Alcorn State University to fund scholarships for undergraduates pursing careers in the food and agricultural sciences.

The School of Agriculture and Applied Science intend to increase student enrollment and diversity by providing scholarship awards of up to $10,000 per year for eligible undergraduate students.  The college aims to achieve a 15-20 percent increase in enrollment by 2025.  The scholarship will support full-time students studying to pursue a career in the food and agricultural sciences, including a career in agribusiness, energy and renewable fuels, or financial management.

The 1890 Scholarship will be awarded to enrolling Freshmen with a composite score of 20 or higher on the ACT or its equivalence on the SAT (reading and math only) and a 3.0 or better high school (or university) cumulative grade point average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale upon graduation. Undergraduate transfer students and non-traditional students and veterans may also be considered for this scholarship. The scholarship is renewable each year providing the student maintains a 3.0 or above cumulative GPA. This scholarship covers up to $10,000 per year.

The School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences currently has a total enrollment of 738 students spread across three departments and a center (Agriculture Department, Human Sciences Department, Advanced Technologies Department and the Center for Biotechnology). First-time freshmen retention rate for the School is 72 percent with a range of 504 to 619 students graduating from 2015 to 2018, representing approximately 21 percent of the students graduating from the university.

The 1890 Scholarships Program provides scholarships to support recruiting, engaging, retaining, mentoring and training of undergraduate students at nineteen 1890 land-grant institutions. The scholarships are intended to encourage outstanding students at 1890 institutions to pursue and complete baccalaureate degrees in the food and agricultural sciences and related fields.