Braidyn Phinney of Ottawa, Illinois, has been admitted to the University of Illinois Springfield for the fall semester of 2025 and awarded a $12,000 Star Scholar Award for tuition over four years. At UIS, he will major in computer science.

The scholarship is awarded based on high school GPA and can be renewed if the student maintains college GPA requirements.

In high school, he was involved in the chess club and Dungeons and Dragons club.

“UIS is a perfect school for me. It is not too far from home and it has a good computer science program,” Phinney said. “It’s small enough that I’ll be able to seek personalized help whenever I need it.”

After graduation, Phinney hopes to pursue a career in software engineering or another programming-related field.

All undergraduate first-year students are automatically eligible for Star Scholar First Year Scholarships. To receive $12,000 over four years, the student must have an unweighted GPA of 3.0-3.24.

For more information on scholarships, contact the UIS Office of Financial Assistance at 217-206-6724 or finaid@uis.edu. A full list of scholarship opportunities is available on the financial assistance website.

Students may apply online for admission to UIS. Contact the UIS Office of Admission at admissions@uis.edu or 217-206-4847 with questions.