YPSILANTI, MI - Prospective students willing to commit to paying for their first two years of tuition at Eastern Michigan University can get their final two years paid for by the university.

Under the new 4WARD Graduation Scholarship concept, set to begin for students entering college in fall 2019, students pay for the their first two consecutive years of tuition at a locked-in rate expected to be a little more than $13,000 a year for 30 credits.

In addition, students are required to live in an on-campus community for each of their four years of attendance, at a locked-in room-and-board rate of approximately $10,500 a year, which includes a standard double room and a standard meal plan, EMU Vice President for Enrollment Management Kevin Kucera said.

Under those conditions, the student would receive his or her next two consecutive years of education, at 30 credits per year, paid for by EMU.

To be eligible for the 4WARD scholarship, admitted students must have a 3.0 or better cumulative GPA, an ACT score of 20 or greater or an SAT score of 1020 or better.

"One thing I've heard over the years that's been kind of a reoccurring theme is the fact that many parents would love to take the mystery out of the process of 'What is this going to cost me?'" Kucera said. "Not just the first year but for the whole duration of the degree."

The scholarship program incentivizes students to live on campus, complete their degree in four years and attracts out-of-state students who might not have otherwise considered attending Eastern Michigan, Kucera said, allowing the university to concentrate its efforts in new territory.

"It's a unique message that will allow us to go out to states we normally haven't gone to and I think it will resonate in states like Indiana where we haven't really targeted our efforts, or Pennsylvania," Kucera said. "So, I'm excited about the possibility that this scholarship could be a scholarship program that could be of interest to families who wouldn't normally have Eastern Michigan on their radar screen."

EMU is hoping to improve its success rate for students who enroll as freshmen, which is 42.6 percent at the four-year rate and 61.4 percent at a six-year rate, based on the latest numbers provided by the state's Center for Educational Performance and Information (CEPI).

Unlike a graduate rate, success rate calculation defines student success as earning a certificate, associate or bachelor's degree at a public university or community college; or transferring to a public university as a degree-seeking student from a community college.

Eastern Michigan's four-year success rate has increased from 34.1 percent for students enrolling in 2009-10 to 42.6 percent in 2013-14, but still lags behind the state average for public universities, which was 49.6 percent in 2013-14.

Getting students through the degree completion process more efficiently and with more incentive to do so financially is one of the missions of the scholarship program, Kucera said.

"The whole idea of trying to financially incentivize a person as they move from freshman through senior years is a concept that we don't always take advantage of," Kucera said. "That was one of the factors associated with this. The other concept is we'd love for you to be able to get done within a four-year time frame. This is a motivator, we think, to keep a student consistent with taking 30 credits a year."