The Dark Side of Scholarships

Let’s set the scene: that difficult class you have is kicking your butt and you just saw your overall grade was a C. What are you more worried about? The fact that you are not performing well? Or, the fact that the scholarship paying for your education requires a certain GPA, and this grade is about to ruin it?

Scholarship anxiety is real, and it needs to be acknowledged and addressed. It is true that Viterbo University gives warnings to students when they become in danger of losing a scholarship. Students are even given a grace period of a term or semester to get their GPA back up. It seems like a fair deal, but I would like to disagree.

Scholarship anxiety can be a slippery slope. It starts out as just a bad homework assignment, then a disappointing quiz grade, and then progresses to that first failed exam. Eventually, from here, the overall class grade does become a C. Now, said student no longer has the GPA to keep their scholarship. This can result in students not being able to return to Viterbo because they cannot afford tuition.

Perhaps you are one of the students who is not affected by this issue. Even so, just because it is not happening to you, does not mean it does not exist. As a community, we must be mindful of those around us and help others succeed.

On top of this, students already have a significant amount of academic and personal stress. Even when it is acknowledged, sometimes the only action that can be taken towards it is to “fake it until you make it.” That phrase does not offer as much pleasantry and growth, like the college experience should. College should be about making new connections, branching out and growing as a person along the way. Students should be able to succeed and know it was their willpower and person that made an exam successful. Getting good grades should not be motivated by the possible loss of a scholarship and education, but instead be a result of hard work and the desire to learn.

If you have any sort of anxiety like this one, reach out and mention it to a professor. Promoting these ideas is the best way to get them acknowledged.