Detroit — Applications from local Catholic school students to the University of Detroit Mercy have nearly doubled since the announcement in August of a partnership between the university and the Archdiocese of Detroit to offer up to $20,000 in grants for students attending first through 12th grade at an archdiocesan school.

Antoine M. Garibaldi, president of the University of Detroit Mercy, told The Michigan Catholic of the dramatic increase in applications during a meeting in December to discuss a new professional development initiative between the university and the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Garibaldi said students are “very much aware” of the opportunity presented by the new grants, which offer $5,000 per year for four years at the University of Detroit Mercy for qualified students who attend all 12 years of primary and secondary education at an archdiocesan school. In addition, another grant of $10,000 — four years at $2,500 — is available for students who spent four years and graduated from an archdiocesan high school.

“We’re pretty close to about 500 applications, whereas last year around this time we were about 250 or a little more than that,” Garibaldi said. He added he didn’t know how many of the applicants qualified for the grants, but said there was no doubt they have played a role.

As of Jan. 14, the university had received 512 applications from Catholic school students, compared to 282 applications at the same time last year.

“The (high school) counselors recognize the fact that students are talking more about the university as a result of this program,” he said, adding that counselors have been “doing their best to encourage those students to pursue a major here at the university.”

Garibaldi said the recent influx of applications has encouraged the university, but “it’s also lifted the spirits of lots of parents and prospective students and grandparents who went to Catholic schools and the University of Detroit Mercy.”

Garibaldi said he’s looking forward to working further with the Archdiocese of Detroit in the future.

“I think we’ve got a great beginning of a partnership there, coupled with professional development opportunities here, and probably many other relationships that are going to develop as a result of it,” he said.

 

Catholic Education University Grant

To learn more about the grants available to Catholic school students at the University of Detroit Mercy, visit www.udmercy.edu or call the university’s admissions office at (800) 635-5020.