By Brent Lyday
Commerce – The Texas A&M University-Commerce Regents' Scholars Program (RSP) will be welcoming 24 outstanding freshmen to its fall 2010 inaugural class. Students were selected through an application and interview process, and will receive a scholarship equivalent to full tuition.
"Any university benefits from having exceptionally qualified, diverse students from a variety of locations and backgrounds on campus," said Dr. Ricky Dobbs, A&M-Commerce University College dean. "Another great benefit to the university will be the tone they set in class, their contribution to the regeneration of campus life and their contribution to the institution's identity."
The Regents program began to materialize in 2009 when A&M-Commerce administrators determined the needed funds were available to accept more students who met the benchmark qualifications to the Honors College. A distinctive academic program was then created to emphasize global awareness, educational travel and the development of students' potential as leaders.
To qualify for the RSP, students must be accepted to the university and proceed through the Honors College application and interview process. Fifty students are then offered the Honors College scholarship, and 30 are offered the Regents scholarship.
"All of these students met or exceeded the Honors College strict class rank and standardized test scores," Dobbs said. "Each underwent a pretty intense interview process. These students have a wide variety of planned career paths, and a number of them are true Renaissance types - people with such varied interests that they defy categorization."
For more information about the Regents' Scholars Program visit http://web.tamu-commerce.edu/academics/universityCollege/Regents%20Scholars%20Program/default.aspx or contact Dr. Ricky Dobbs at 903-886-5878 or at universitycollege@tamu-commerce.edu.