UI departments come together to offer one semester of free tuition
For those who have attended a Vandal Football game or listened to the radio this fall, “free tuition” has been a term tossed around by the University of Idaho President’s Office, among other departments.
A new interactive campaign, the UI Science Brain Game, is a trivia contest created to award one lucky student with free tuition and fees for one semester.
The College of Science, Idaho INBRE, Idaho EPSCoR, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Office of the President are collaborating to bring the Brain Game to Vandal fans everywhere.
Anyone is eligible to win the Brain Game, said Carolyn Bohach, UI professor and director of Idaho NIH INBRE.
According to UI spokeswoman Tara Roberts, the Brain Game’s free tuition offer is a tuition waiver sponsored by INBRE and EPSCoR. A tuition waiver, as opposed to a funded scholarship, does not bring any additional revenue to the university.
In addition to its original sponsors, Bohach said the UI Athletic Department is also helping to coordinate the Brain Game by advertising the campaign at Vandal Football games.
Bohach said the Brain Game winner does not have to be a student. She said parents can win and give it to their children or use it themselves — the prize is transferrable and does not expire.
At the beginning of Vandal Football home games, a multiple-choice question is displayed on the reader-board at the Kibbie Dome with the characteristic logo of a football helmet inscribed with a brain. The question is read aloud to the Kibbie Dome audience, as well as on the radio at the same time for those who are not football fans. Participants are able to answer a question every game.
The questions are science related and directly associated to UI research initiatives. For instance, Bohach said the first home game’s question was about which gas makes up the majority of the Earth’s atmosphere, which relates to the current research being done on climate change at UI.
Students text their answers to the number 90561, and those who get the answer correct are texted back during the third quarter of the game. Those winners are automatically entered into the drawing for the semester of free tuition. The drawing will take place at the end of the football season.
“With the Brain Game we really want to change someone’s life by providing them with an opportunity to go to school free of charge,” Bohach said.
She said everybody has a chance to win because the questions are broad and there are multiple chances to be entered into the drawing.
However, Bohach said the Brain Game is not a one-time thing, and will return to UI for basketball season.
Macklin Brown can be reached at [email protected]