For Fall 2010 freshmen, Marist College is offering a limited number of full scholarships to academically-talented and financially-needy students who wish to major in computer science or information technology and systems. The scholarships include tuition, room and board, supplemental instruction and tutoring, special faculty advisors and career placement services for the full 4 years of their undergraduate studies.
Students will be selected based on their high school grades and courses, SAT scores, letter of interest and personal interview with Marist faculty, work and extracurricular activities. Selected students will have a special four-day summer orientation, shared housing, and a two-semester course in game development and design that will introduce the students to computer science and information technology concepts.
Applications in game development include scientific visualization, modeling, and physics and mathematical simulations. After freshman year, students may pursue further game studies or other concentrations within the CS/ITS majors.
Students will have the chance to work with industry mentors and to participate in industry internships and applied research. Aetna, IBM, Pepsi Bottling Group, and Verizon are company partners who have already agreed to participate in the program.
Marist is able to establish the scholarship program thanks to a five-year, $560,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The goal of the program is to increase the number and diversity of students majoring in computer science and information technology.
This year Marist College is ranked #15 in U.S. News & World Report America's Best Colleges Guide, making this the sixteenth year in a row that Marist has been ranked in the top tier of colleges and universities in the northern U.S. U.S. News again named Marist as one of the top schools to watch as "leading the pack in improvements and innovative changes." In 2006, the Princeton Review and Forbes Magazine listed Marist as one of the 25 "most connected campuses in America". The School of Computer Science and Mathematics at Marist has a rich curriculum including studies in robotics, networking, data quality, computer graphics, artificial intelligence, database management systems as well as game design and development.
To be eligible for the scholarships, the applicant must demonstrate academic ability and potential, show financial need based on the US Department of Education criteria, be a US citizenship or permanent residency, and maintain full-time enrollment in a CS or ITS major.
