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Renewable Scholarships
In March-April 2009, senior year students will receive financial aid
award letters from each college they are accepted to. Scrutinize
and compare scholarships, grants and loans listed on each award letter
and:
Verify that each scholarship or grant is “renewable.” Renewable
scholarships and grants are awarded each year, freshman through senior
years. Non-renewable means the money is given only for the freshman
year.
Ask if the renewable scholarships and grants are adjusted for inflation. As
college costs increase each year, do your scholarships and grants also
increase?
If a scholarship is renewable, check on the requirements to renew
the scholarship. Do you need to maintain a 3.5 Grade Point Average
(GPA)? Maintaining a 3.5 GPA may be very difficult and if you
don’t earn this high GPA, you will lose the scholarship. Be
aware of what is required to keep your scholarships and grants.
Most colleges give the incoming freshman class scholarships and grants
knowing a large percentage of the financial aid will be discontinued
because many students fail to maintain the minimum GPA (and end up
losing their financial aid). The best financial aid awards require
students to achieve “satisfactory academic progress,” which
means scholarship recipients must maintain a minimum GPA of only 2.0
while taking at least 12 course units. |
