Colleges wooed Brennan Springmire ’21 with a total of $1.171 million in scholarship offers before his final choice brought him to De Pere.

Million-Dollar Student Opts for St. Norbert

Brennan Springmire ’21 had never done the math, so when a communications representative from his high school, Montini Catholic in Downers Grove, Ill., told him the financial total of his academic scholarship offers, he was extremely surprised.

“I had no idea that it was over $1 million,” says Springmire. “I had a box of all the acceptance letters. My school records all that, so I brought them in a week or two before graduation for the [Commencement] bulletin. I started receiving emails congratulating me. I was not expecting it to be that high.”

Springmire received 18 scholarship offers totaling $1.171 million. He accepted a $60,000 Presidential Scholarship from St. Norbert College and committed to play football as an offensive lineman for the Green Knights.

“I applied to a number of schools and a lot of the time they offered me merit scholarships,” he explains. “The schools I really liked, I talked to a little bit more. Most of the scholarships were based on my application – my grades, my involvement and extracurriculars.

“I was very involved in high school,” he adds. “I played football all four years, basketball for two years, track for three years and rugby for two years. I was in a bunch of different clubs. I was in the English Club. I was a student ambassador to help give the school a good name and recruit kids to come for academics.” Springmire was also involved in his church. He served on the parish council at St. Scholastica Parish in Woodridge, Ill.

“I represented the youth in the church,” he explains. “They wanted to be more involved in social media. They wanted a different way to look at millennials.”

When he turned 18, Springmire joined the Knights of Columbus, which may provide more tuition support.

“My Dad and my brothers are all in it, so I naturally joined,” he explains. “It’s fun to help out. The Knights of Columbus have scholarship opportunities. I think I have a pretty good chance.”

Springmire admits that when weighing his college options, it was tempting to look at the individual dollar amounts of each scholarship. The top scholarship offer he received was for $109,000.

“You have to pick the school you like and don’t worry about how much it’s going to cost,” he says. “Figure out where you are going to be happy academically, athletically and socially. Find the best fit.”

He has found St. Norbert to be a good fit. Springmire plans to major in business administration. He enjoys the camaraderie on the football team, and gathered information about clubs and organizations at the St. Norbert Involvement Fair to seek other opportunities outside the classroom.

“Coming to college, a lot people said that time-management skills were something they needed to work on,” says Springmire. “I felt that I was pretty good in that area. I would leave at 6:30 in the morning in high school and get home at 8 in the evening or sometimes not until 10:30. Having a lot to do forces you to focus and get things done the right way. The transition has been smooth so far.”   

Dec. 5, 2017