Most seniors in high school start looking for universities to attend by looking at the ones closest to them, or perhaps they have had universities come recruiting at their schools, as the ambassadors from Weber State University do.

Michell

e Garrett, a WSU junior studying communication, is part of WSU Ambassadors. She said the ambassadors are mostly in charge of outreach in high schools and junior high schools in the surrounding area.

“We tell them about programs, housing, activities,” Garrett said, “pretty much everything about Weber State.”

Recruiting is a contributing reason that many WSU students are lifelong Ogden residents, but many other students come from outside Ogden, like Sharnay Green, a WSU freshman from West Virginia who is majoring in political science. Green came to Utah because she had family here — a common reason among out-of-state students.

Jeff Barker, a WSU senior in English, is from California. He came to WSU because of the ROTC program. He said it is one of the better ones in the country. He heard about the WSU ROTC program through a friend. He said he not only likes the program, but WSU also.

Fran Hopkin, a WSU admissions adviser, said WSU has recruitment plans to help out-of-state students learn about what the school has to offer them. He said the university recruits even up in southern Alberta, Canada. This recruitment is mostly promotional mail with details about campus, scholarships and out-of-state financial programs.

Another common reason for coming to WSU is that it gives the best offer to these students. Hopkin said WSU offers four different scholarships for out-of-state students. The first scholarship available is the Alumni Legacy Nonresident Scholarship, which is offered to the children of WSU alumni.

Another scholarship is the 100-Mile Nonresident Partial Tuition Reduction, which is an offer to all students applying to WSU who live within a 100-mile radius from Ogden. It waives half of the difference between resident and nonresident tuition.

The Western Undergraduate Exchange Program is another common scholarship. This program helps applicants from a list of 14 western states by waiving part of the nonresident tuition charge.

The most common of the four offers is WeberEdge, which is offered to students planning to live on campus. This scholarship comes with academic requirements and helps with housing as well. Hopkin said this plan has the requirements of a GPA of 3.0 or higher or a 23 on the ACT and the student’s commitment to being a full-time student.

Angie Parish, a WSU sophomore working toward her associate’s degree in paramedics, is using WeberEdge. She moved to WSU from Alaska and now lives on campus. Parish heard about WSU through a family member who lives in Utah. She ultimately decided to come to WSU because it gave her the best offer. Her friends were a little skeptical at first when she told them she would be attending a university in Utah. She said one of her friends asked where Utah was located.

“Usually, it should be the other way around,” Parish said. “A lot of people . . . don’t know where Alaska is, but I thought it was kind of funny that people didn’t know where Utah was.”

Parish said she didn’t really have any expectations for what her experience at WSU would be like, but she said it’s been a good experience overall.

“I’ve made some good connections here,” Parish said, “and actually, like, had fun.”

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