The Institute of International Education placed Washington University on its 2011-2012 list of the top-producing schools of Fulbright award winners. Eleven of the 44 Washington University students who applied for Fulbright scholarships last year for this academic year received funding, a 25 percent yield.

Despite a national trend of universities discontinuing funding for national merit scholarships, Washington University continues to fund students named with the distinction. New York University’s recent decision to stop funding the National Merit Scholarship Program (NMSP) has incited a host of discussions amongst universities over whether it is practical to offer scholarships based on standardized test scores.

Gov. Jay Nixon announced that the Missouri Department of Higher Education will increase scholarship amounts for students under the Access Missouri program for a combined total of about $58.7 million.

Over $67 million has been raised toward Washington University’s $150 million scholarship initiative, “Opening Doors to the Future,” which began in March of 2009. The scholarship drive was intended, in part, to keep financial aid stable after many students’ financial circumstances changed following the economic collapse of 2009.

Students in WU/FUSED and the Diversity Affairs Council might be pushing for more financial aid, but Washington University offers both need-based and merit scholarships.

Next fall I will be traveling to New Zealand to study at the University of Auckland for a semester. It is hard to express how excited I am to have the opportunity to live and study in a foreign land. Even though I am months away from departure, I am confident that living in another country will be an educational and life-changing experience.

Washington University’s board of trustees has approved a $150 million scholarship initiative called “Opening Doors to the Future: The Scholarship Initiative for Washington University” that will raise funds for student financial aid and scholarships.