“The American University of Nigeria Scholarship Program enables the less-privileged like me to attend a great university. AUN’s merit-based scholarship encourages students to study hard, and has taught me not only to strive to be the first but the best. For me, AUN is the intersection of hope and ambition.”

For hundreds of thousands seeking university admission in Nigeria, the comments by Mr. Mohammed Njiemoun, a beneficiary of AUN’s merit scholarship, are both inspiring and provocative. University education in Nigeria is a precious commodity.

This year alone, a leading federal university in Nigeria’s southwest will test more than 32,000 matriculation candidates in the post-UTME (Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination) test. Only a few thousand will be admitted, based on existing facilities. The nation’s oldest university will take only 3,000 of the 33,000 who applied for matriculation.

While an increasing number of college-ready youths jostle for the limited university space in the nation’s tertiary institutions, opportunities for very bright and ambitious students from indigent backgrounds to gain places in top universities are even fewer.

The 168 candidates who wrote the American University of Nigeria’s scholarship examinations on August 1, 2015, came from different social and economic backgrounds, but their hope and motivation to secure a scholarship into one of the nation’s leading universities matches AUN’s commitment to attract and educate the brightest and the best young students from around Nigeria, Africa, and the world, irrespective of whether their parents are people of means. All candidates admitted into the institution for the Fall 2015 Semester on the basis of their 2015 JAMB UTME scores were eligible to sit for the examinations.

The exams, for which no fees were charged, took place in Port Harcourt (at Intels Integrated Logistics Services); Enugu (Federal Government College); Ibadan (Mauve 21 Event Centre); Abuja (Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre); Kaduna (Arewa House), and at AUN’s Yola campus.

Those sitting the exams were impressed. “When I first heard about the scholarship, I had to go check it again because it didn’t sound real. I needed to be sure. I will just say a big thank you to AUN,” said Richman Eze, a candidate who wrote the exams with 20 others at the Port Harcourt center. Many commented on the professionalism of the exam process itself—punctual, hitch-free, and fraud-proof.

“I have visited the AUN campus a couple of times. It is a class apart from others. So I was not expecting anything less in how the scholarship exams would be conducted,” said Hussiena Bitrus. She wrote the test at the Yola campus of AUN with 42 others.

Solomon Michael from Adamawa State plans to study Telecommunications and Wireless Technology. He, too, took the test at the Yola center. “I have heard testimonies from AUN scholarship students and I believe such an opportunity will equally help me achieve my dreams of an accomplished career person. I had visited the University out of curiosity to explore it for myself; I was impressed with everything I saw from the serene environment to the classrooms that are conducive for learning. The idea of getting scholarships to students is a great one. It will help the less-privileged to be able to have the same quality education with those that can afford it.”

The scholarship program is at the heart of AUN’s ‘development university’ mantra. The University has earned a strong reputation for assisting brilliant but indigent students from throughout Nigeria and other African countries since it was established over a decade ago. In its scholarship brochure, AUN proclaims its faith in investing in Africa’s brightest: “We believe that financial consideration should not be a barrier to quality education for students who meet our academic criteria.”

AUN’s Financial Aid Package is disbursed in different ways. The merit scholarship offers full tuition aid to undergraduates with outstanding credentials regardless of need. These awards are renewable for each undergraduate year provided that the student maintains a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 based on a 4-point system.

Need-based scholarships are offered to qualified undergraduates with demonstrated financial need, while the President’s Scholarship is bestowed on students who did not receive a scholarship on admission but who subsequently demonstrate exceptional academic excellence in addition to financial need. AUN’s President Dr. Margee Ensign has won local and global recognition for her steadfast leadership in promoting educational opportunities through scholarships, especially for female candidates.

The Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation in Abuja manages the nationwide Yar’Adua Merit Scholarships program. The Foundation has been identifying young people throughout Nigeria at an early age with academic potential and financial need. It then provides financial support through elementary and secondary schools at the AUN Academy, with the University giving free tuition to selected students graduating from that program based on their academic performance.

Students from Cameroon, South Africa, Rwanda, and other African countries also enjoy scholarships from their respective countries and AUN.

In 2014, AUN’s Board of Trustee members, Mr. Jon Freeman and Alhaji Tajuddeen Dantata, honored one of their Board colleagues, Dr. Enyantu Ifenne, by sponsoring two scholarships in her name for JAMB candidates entering AUN.

The female candidate with the best JAMB score entering AUN in any given year wins the first scholarship while any candidate with the best JAMB score from any of the three geographical zones in the North, gets the other. Scholarship winners can enroll for any course of their choice at AUN.

AUN’s Founder, former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar, announced two new scholarships in honor of deceased AUN Board member and former National Security Adviser to US President Jimmy Carter, Dr. Robert Pastor, who passed away in January 2014. The Robert Pastor scholarships are awarded annually to deserving male and female JAMB candidates entering AUN. His Excellency Atiku Abubakar generously gives out over 30 scholarships annually to needy students studying in AUN from all over Nigeria and Africa.

Ms. Hephzber Ifunanya Obiorah, top graduating student in the spring of this year, summed it up nicely: “It was through an AUN scholarship that I could afford a world-class university education and secure a ticket to graduate school. AUN is the basket that holds not only my dreams, but those of my family.”

•Ms. Hauwa Modibbo wrote from Yola. Photo shows one of AUN's buildings.

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