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One of the province’s more popular scholarships ran $7.5 million over budget last year because of a sharp increase in applicants and how the program is administered, the government says.

Typically, around 14,000 students receive the Alexander Rutherford Scholarship each year, but 4,765 more students than anticipated received the award in the 2016-17 academic year.

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The scholarship was also over budget to the tune of $5.5 million in the 2015-16 academic year.

A government spokesman said the increases are down to the fact the scholarship application is now an online process coupled with a re-weighting of diploma exam marks.

For years, the diploma exam mark counted for 50 per cent of a student’s overall mark. That number is now 30 per cent, meaning more students are eligible.

The scholarship, which has a maximum value of $2,500, is calculated on the overall average of five designated courses under each grade level.