The University of Maryland has announced that one student will win free tuition for the Spring 2027 semester in a raffle among students who stay for the entire game Saturday when the 2-5 Terrapins host Illinois.
"The idea actually started over the summer, so a bunch of us got together to brainstorm ideas of how we can get students to stay until the fourth quarter of our football games," Rachel Palmer, the assistant athletic director for fan development and marketing at UMD, told Baltimore NBC affiliate WBAL-TV. "We've tried a lot of things over the years, raffling off premium giveaways, contests and ultimately landed on this idea of a tuition raffle."
Palmer said students must claim their student ticket, scan it at the gate and during the game a QR code will come up on the big screen for students to scan and enter.
Five finalists will be randomly selected and brought down to the field during fourth quarter where one of them will be gifted the tuition.
"You best believe I'll be staying at the game the whole time. Hello, I want that free tuition," said Maryland freshman Allison Reinhart. "[Our football team isn't] the best and we've had a rough few games and so I think they're really trying to pursue us to stay."
"I actually wasn't planning on going to the game, but I guess now I am," said Obi Mortanya, another UMD freshman. "Well, we're not really that good so there's not a big reason to stay but I guess that's incentive."
The total value of the award is based on the value of undergraduate, in-state tuition, roughly up to $8,000, according to university officials. They will honor that value regardless of the student's residency status.
"It's also our second annual Oktoberfest game, so we have kind of German-inspired Oktoberfest theme coming into the stadium, we have hats we're giving out to the fans that come into the game and then we also have specials on Oktoberfest beers and souvenir cups," said Palmer, as reported by WBAL-TV's Tori Vorgey. "Then with it also being on Halloween, we have a dual theme with Halloween so encouraging trick or treating at our fan fest before the game, costume contests."
