Photo by Tim Schoon.
There’s no question about it. If it weren’t for Advantage Iowa (AI), a three-year-old scholarship program aimed at attracting and retaining a diverse student population, Maribel Treto wouldn’t be a Hawkeye.
“Advantage Iowa is why I’m here,” says Treto, a chemical engineering student from Melrose Park, Ill., and an active member of Society for Women Engineers and Sigma Lambda Gamma, a traditionally Latina sorority. “Out-of-state tuition is expensive, and, yeah, I could have taken out a bunch of loans and gone in debt, but that would have put a lot of stress on me. With this scholarship I can focus on school and not have to worry about where I’m going to get money for books or tuition.”
The Advantage Iowa award is a merit-based scholarship for first-year students whose enrollment will contribute to a diverse learning environment. Eligibility criteria may include one or more of the following: race/ethnic background, socioeconomic factors, whether the student is a first-generation college student, and participation in a federally funded Upward Bound program. Awards range from $2,000 to full tuition, and may be renewed for up to 8 semesters as long as the student is enrolled full-time and maintains a cumulative 2.50 grade-point average.
by Anne Kapler. View the full Be Remarkable article.
