Receiving a full ride to college is often the crowning achievement for any high school student. When 58 applicants were told by Central Michigan University last weekend that they had won the Centralis Scholar Award, those students assumed their tuition would be free.

All of that excitement was short-lived after the students were told Sunday that the decisions were made in error.

In an email to the students, the university's executive director of admissions told them they had received the messages by mistake and offered an apology. CMU attributed the mistake to a new messaging system.

But on Wednesday, Central Michigan University made amends. To make up for the mistake, the 58 students received a new message that they would receive the full four-year tuition scholarship, though they will not receive other perks of the scholarship.

“We deeply regret the disappointment and frustration caused by the test message error in the student portal,” CMU spokesman Aaron Mills said in a statement. “To make it right, we will be reaching out to each of the 58 students who saw the congratulatory message regarding the Centralis Scholarship and offering ... the equivalent of a full-tuition scholarship.”

The scholarship is awarded to high school seniors with a grade-point average of 3.7 or higher. The scholarship provides students with "high-impact learning opportunities" that includes full tuition, a $5,000 study-away award and free dorming.

According to the CMU website, tuition is $12,750 a year for an undergraduate.

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