Lakehead University to give free tuition to new Canadian students with 95% high school averages

On Sept. 23, the Thunder Bay, Ont. university announced that they plan to attract the “best and the brightest” by providing scholarships to high school students with exceptionally high GPAs.

According to Eleanor Abaya, director of communications, Lakehead hopes the top students will encourage surrounding students to excel. “If you’re a student surrounded by bright classmates you tend to be inspired to work harder to be at that same level,” Abaya said.

Despite the fact that the new program will provide select High school students with full tuition for their entire post-secondary career, the Lakehead University Student Union (LUSU) has “mixed feelings” about these scholarships.

Students’ union president Richard Longton said that the university has a responsibility to educate the students that are already attending Lakehead, and future students from the Thunder Bay area.

“It is good to see that [Lakehead University] is trying to spearhead and recruit some students that would ideally never look at coming this far north, and it has certainly garnished some attention in making people interesting in the very fact of Lakehead,” Longton conceded.

The program is not only for students who have 95 per cent GPAs or higher, it also provides students who have an 80 per cent average with an entrance scholarship, said Robert Perrier, manager of undergraduate recruitment at Lakehead.

“Starting at 80-84.9 percent [average mark], we give them a $3,000 scholarship payable over four years, for 85-89.9 we give a $6,000 scholarship payable over four years and between 90-94.9 we give a $10,000 scholarship over four years and for 95+ it would be tuition for four years at [Lakehead] University.”

Students have to maintain an average of an 85 per cent average to continue receiving the funding over the full four years.

“Not only to retain the best and the brightest from north western Ontario, but also attract many of those same students from all over Canada,” said Perrier.

“If they have the average, essentially they receive the money,” said Perrier “They’re automatically awarded entrance scholarships, there is no separate application necessary, if they apply to Lakehead and are admitted to Lakehead they will automatically be considered for those scholarships.”

To compare, U of M offers automatic advanced early admission scholarships of $3,700 to first-year students with a 95 per cent average. Students with 90 per cent averages receive an automatic $1,700. The specific quotas for payment of general entrance scholarships changes slightly year to year, but in 2006-07 the lowest tier to receive an award was all students entering with an 80 per cent average, who received a scholarship of $800 toward their first-year tuition. These scholarships apply to the first year of studies only, although U of M does offer other scholarships to continuing students.