For the past several years, OU has boasted the highest number of enrolled freshmen National Merit Scholars among all public and private universities.
But after the extensive scholarship and heavy recruitment were scaled back this semester, those high enrollment numbers have been slashed in half.
In fall 2017, 317 freshman National Merit Scholars enrolled at the university. This fall, the number is between 155 and 160, OU President James Gallogly said at an Aug. 16 press conference.
The decision to pull back on one of OU's most famous programs was made about a year ago by former president David Boren and the OU Board of Regents, Gallogly said during the same conference.
Gallogly said in the speech that the decision to scale back OU's National Merit Scholar Program was made in order to redirect some of the scholarship funds toward a wider pool of students, especially Oklahomans. About 58 percent of incoming National Merit Scholars are from other states Erin Yarbrough, interim vice president for public affairs, told Oklahoma Watch.
"We really want to make sure that OU is affordable for the citizens of Oklahoma as well as a variety of other students," Gallogly said at the press conference. "... I know that there has been criticism in the past about the number of National Merit scholarships that have been given and how some of that money then doesn't flow to the students of Oklahoma."
The 2017 SAT Annual Report by College Board stated only 23 percent of Oklahoma 11th graders took the PSAT, the test used to determine National Merit Scholars, in the fall of 2016, compared to 65 percent in Texas that year.
Under the new scholarship conditions, according to the National Merit hand-out, non-residents will now pay the in-state tuition rate minus a $2,000 waiver. Residents will have their full tuition waived. These waivers cover five years. Previously, both residents and non-residents received a full-tuition waiver.
Scholars will no longer receive a freshman-year $4,200 housing stipend, and there will be $500 reductions to both the technology/textbook allowance and research/study abroad stipend, according to honors student ambassador physics and math sophomore Jacob Moser, who is also a National Merit Scholar.
The office, which previously recruited National Merit Scholars exclusively, will expand to also target high-achieving students who may not have the National Merit distinction.
"We are continuing the high level of personalization in National Merit Scholars recruitment and now extending that to other great students in Oklahoma and nationally," Jeff Blahnik, executive director of the office of admissions and recruitment, said in an email. "We still have dedicated personnel whose focus will be on our National Merit and Honors College strategy, but we've also cross-trained our entire (Office of Admissions and Recruitment) staff to be able to better serve these students along with other students in their assigned regions."
The office designates these 'high-achievers' as students who would be admitted to the Honors College as freshmen, Blahnik said.
"We also recognize that test scores are by no means the only measure of a student's likelihood of making a big impact at OU and beyond," Blahnik said in the email. "As such, we are trying to be very intentional and personal in our service to all students who would thrive at OU."
Although this decision is increasing the price for National Merit Scholars at OU, Moser said he thinks OU's other attractive attributes will continue to bring in students like him.
"The scholarship was the first thing that caught my eye and put OU into my orbit when I was searching for colleges," Moser said. "But after that, there were other things like the office itself and the support systems at OU that made it an easy choice to come here."
Biomedical engineering sophomore and National Merit Scholar Advika Kamatar said she would not have considered OU if the scholarship changes had been in place when she was going through the admissions process.
"The scholarship this year would not have been enough to bring me in," Kamatar said. "The same goes for my brother too (also a Merit scholar). OU was on his list when he heard about the package that I received, but ... he immediately took it off his list when he realized how much it was scaled back."
Since the changes have already shown a decline in National Merit Scholars attending OU, Kamatar said she thinks classroom dynamics will suffer as a result.
"My experience with National Merits is that they are a huge benefit in the classroom," Kamatar said. "A lot of times in discussion-based courses, they're the ones leading the discussion or in math courses, they're the ones who answer the questions and interact with the professor more and really move the class forward. Because there's fewer of them, I do think that the class quality will go down at OU."
Although both Moser and Kamatar recognize the disadvantages of these changes, they both said there are benefits.
"Obviously the University of Oklahoma is here to serve Oklahoma," Moser said. "Hopefully (the changes) help spread some of the wealth to Oklahomans because obviously there are deserving kids all over the United States and especially in Oklahoma too, so it's important that the systems are in place to make sure that people don't slip through the cracks, especially the people that the university is really here to serve."
Kamatar felt the disadvantages of the changes reach far beyond being an attractive option for National Merit Scholars.
"(The National Merit Program) increases the quality of the classrooms, it allows you to bring better teachers here because they want to teach really bright students that they might not find at other schools who don't have the National Merit Program," Kamatar said. "But then you also need to have that financial responsibility to the state and if it's not using the state's money wisely in the long-term, then I understand why you have to cut it."