Though the Univeristy has many options for financial aid, many students choose to apply for scholarships to aid them in paying for tuition and other fees.

The University awards an average of 5,800 scholarships, totaling approximately $20 million per year, according to the Office of Admissions website.

However, those statistics refer mostly to incoming freshman, said Director of Scholarships Armina Patton in an email.

The numbers for scholarships awarded to current students are slightly different.

“BGSU offers more than $27 million in scholarships each year,” Patton said. “There are over 750 listed on the searchable scholarship [directory], not including University Freshman Award Scholarships that may be awarded to new incoming undergraduate students.”

There are several different categories for scholarships, according to the University Scholarships Office website.

The website lists the categories of scholarships as “four-year, renewable Freshman Scholarships for incoming freshmen, Transfer Scholarships for transfer students and General Scholarships for new and current students,” as well as Departmental Scholarships.

According to the website, awards range from $300 to covering all fees.

Scholarships can also be awarded through the departments on campus, such as the Alumni Office.

Kelly Basden Lawrie, assistant director for Alumni Affairs, said the office has “approximately 38 different types of scholarships.”

She said a larger number of scholarships can be awarded depending on the amount of funds raised by alumni.

Though the requirements for different scholarships can vary greatly, Patton said it is difficult to single out a requirement or scholarship as more unusual than others.

Lawrie said scholarships “can require a student that lives on a farm or even students in unique districts.”

Lawrie said Alumni Office scholarships are mainly “based on regular aspects,” such as GPA, but most require students to be from a certain zip code.

This is because the funds for the scholarships were raised by alumni in that area, Lawrie said.

Lawrie said that because of the region requirement, the office can receive a large number of applications from areas where many University students come from, such as Toledo.

However, they are “not extremely competitive,” Lawrie said,

Other aspects can also factor into whether or not students receive certain scholarships.

The University Scholarships Office website says other possible requirements for scholarships are “merit, demonstrated financial need, field of study, participation in a specific program, organization or activity or any combination of these items.”

Receiving a scholarship may sound difficult, but Patton feels otherwise.

“I do not feel any scholarship offered is tough to receive,” Patton said. “As long as a student meets the requirements and submits an application with all materials required, they may be awarded a scholarship.”