Roshan Poudel was ecstatic when he received an email delivering the news that he had been approved for a full scholarship to the University of Texas at Tyler.
The application process began in fall 2017. In December, Poudel received an email saying not only had he been accepted to UT Tyler, but the university was offering him a full scholarship under its new Presidential Fellows program, which is only available to incoming freshman. The scholarship offer states that it would cover full tuition, fees, books, room and board.
He was thrilled at the idea of coming to the United States from his native country of Nepal to study computer science and had begun taking steps toward that goal, including applying for a student visa. He said he also had applied for and been selected for the Honors Program at UT Tyler.
Then he got the second email five months later. The one informing him the scholarship offer had been withdrawn.
“Thank you for applying to The University of Texas at Tyler. As a candidate for the Presidential Fellows Scholarship Program, we want to inform you that due to extraordinary demand for this year’s Fellows Program, our scholarship request exceeded the amount budgeted for this year," the email read.
“As a result, funds for the Presidential Fellows Program are no longer available, and we will not be able to offer you the Presidential Fellows Scholarship. We initially thought we could include you as a fellow this year, but the popularity of the program was far greater than expected.”
Poudel was one of a "significant number" of students who were informed they had received a Presidential Fellows Scholarship and later told the offer had been rescinded.
"I opened the email from UT Tyler on Nepali New Year's Day and it was a catastrophe," Poudel said in an email. "I have been in a state of total depression since last week and have no idea on what I should do next. Every day, I check my email a thousand times wishing some change, but doing so just adds to my disappointment."
UT Tyler administrators said the interest in its new Presidential Fellows Scholarship was much higher than anticipated, leading to the university to withdraw scholarship awards offered to many students.
Lucas Roebuck, UT Tyler's director for marketing and communication, said an administrative oversight led to the overissuance of the scholarship at an untenable level.
Roebuck would not say exactly how many scholarship offers had been withdrawn, but said no students from East Texas were affected. All students who have had their offer withdrawn were contacted last week, he said.
As the university made the rounds of East Texas schools announcing local recipients of the scholarship, the college said they were awarding more than 200 and encouraged students to keep applying up until the March 1 deadline.
The university declined to offer a full number of students awarded the scholarship.
"We had greater than anticipated demand for our Presidential Fellowships, the highest merit award offered by UT Tyler. The demand exceeded our budget, so a number of students were re-offered the Patriot Scholarship, which offers $5,000 a year for up to four years and in-state tuition rates," Roebuck wrote in an email.
Students were notified last week that they would no longer be receiving the full scholarship, but the university did offer a one-time $5,000 Patriot scholarship.
Many of the students already had paid housing application fees and requested student visas, which required the name of the university and proof of ability to pay using the acceptance letter from UT Tyler.
More than 40 students working with the United States Educational Foundation in Nepal said they had their scholarship offer withdrawn.
Poudel saidthe foundation has been working with about 80 Nepalese students who had been offered the scholarship.
Poudel said now he is beating himself up for trusting the college and is left without a plan. He said the advisers at the U.S. Educational Foundation in Nepal are scrambling to help students find a college that will work with their unique situation.
Like many of the other students who reached out, he deeply regrets declining admission and scholarship offers from other colleges. With classes beginning in just a few months, it may be too late to find a solution and have their visas revised in order to begin school in the fall.
Shulav Adhikari said he was caught completely off guard. His first thought was of how he would tell his family.
"When I received the mail, I was devastated about my future and about how my family would react to this news because one year of my life had gone in vain and my future was starting to become dark," he said. "Basically, this action by UT Tyler is completely unjustifiable because not only have they canceled my scholarship, they have also taken my hopes for a better future."
Roebuck said students who did not wish to accept the Patriot scholarship would be refunded any fees they had paid. However, all of the affected students would need to adjust their student visa applications reflecting the new amount of financial aid being offered.
Roebuck said not all of the Nepalese students had their scholarship withdrawn.
"We regret any inconvenience this may have caused. Even with re-offers, for 2018-19, UT Tyler still is offering more merit aid for first-year freshman than ever in its history," Roebuck said.
Roebuck also said the university is offering record aid for international students.
It is unclear if the scholarship withdrawals affected students from countries other than Nepal. The UT Tyler Nepalese Student Association declined to comment on the issue.
