Paying for graduate school studies just got a little easier for students attending Andrews University, beginning with the 2008–2009 school year. The university's new Graduate Scholarship Program will be the first university-wide program to offer scholarships to eligible students in most entry-level graduate programs. The graduate scholarships will offer, for those who qualify, an overall percentage discount on the specific tuition for that student's program, based on the student's GRE or GMAT scores.

G. Lyndon Furst, who retired in December as Andrews University's dean of Graduate Studies, said the new scholarship has been a dream of his since he first assumed the position in 2002. "Nearly 40 percent of Andrews students are in the School of Graduate Studies," according to Furst. "This new scholarship program demonstrates how important graduate education is to Andrews."

The scholarships are available to master's level students accepted into programs which require a GRE or GMAT, or first-time graduate students in advanced programs (for two years only), who enroll for the first time for the 2008–2009 term and who have current (within five years) GRE (or GMAT for School of Business students) scores at the time of enrollment. The Graduate Scholarship Program will not be available to most doctoral students or to students in programs with subsidized tuition rates, such as some of those within the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews.

"The graduate scholarship gives students who want to attend grad school in the context of a Christian worldview a little bit more assistance," said Furst. "It's a major step forward for the university in making grad school more affordable."

Robert Moncrieff, student news writer, University Relations