Utah Valley University mistakenly offers full scholarships

Utah Valley University has apologized to more than 300 high school seniors for an "unfortunate technical glitch" that left them believing they had won full-tuition scholarships to the Orem university.

Letters were sent to 344 students in early January, under the signature of President Matthew Holland, offering them the Exemplary Scholarship, a four-year award that waives tuition charges.

But it turns out that only 40 of the students qualified for the scholarships, which are offered to students who score at least 27 on the ACT exam and have grade point averages of at least 3.7.

The university realized its mistake two or three weeks after the initial letters to the students.

"As soon as we discovered a mistake had been made, we notified the individuals and sent a letter of apology. We again apologize to those who received offer letters in error," UVU Vice President Chris Taylor said in a statement.

The university sent the letters to the 344 based on their ACT scores alone, said Mike Rigert, communications manager for the school.

"Those who received letters and didn't qualify for this particular scholarship (Exemplary Scholarship) are encouraged to apply for any other scholarship they may qualify for," Taylor said in the statement.

The Feb. 1 scholarship deadline for incoming students has been waived by those affected by the university's mistake, he said.

kmoulton@sltrib.com