<p>Hi</p>
<p>Question from a Newby. My son received a Regent scholarship and it is renewable for up to 8 semesters - as long he maintains a 3.50 (reviewed each year)</p>
<p>Can someone tell me if his gpa drops below - do they normally give a lower tiered scholarship? Or is the scholarship dropped completely?</p>
<p>Or does it depend on the school? Thanks!</p>
<p>In my kids’ cases, if their GPA dropped below that threshold at the end of the YEAR, the scholarship was completely lost. Their two schools gave the kids until the end of the spring term to determine the awards for the following year. In other words, if it dropped below the threshold for the fall term, they had the spring term to make up the difference if they could. They were never that close!! Thank goodness.</p>
<p>We know a number of kiddos who had GPA requirements for scholarship renewal. If they didn’t meet the requirement, they didn’t get less scholarship…they got NO scholarship.</p>
<p>I would check with the school to know whether it’s 3.50 as of the end of the spring term or 3.5 at the end of ANY term…cumulative GPA. </p>
<p>Gotta say…that’s a high GPA to maintain especially in some majors. My daughter, the engineering major, would have lost her scholarship if that had been the GPA requirement…she maintained a 3.2 but not a 3.5.</p>
<p>And if she had lost her scholarship, we were not willing to pick up the difference.</p>
<p>If he is already matriculated, this is not relevant (but I wish you and him good luck; I bet he’ll be fine).</p>
<p>If he is still in the decision process (ie, this is an early acceptance with scholarship and he may have other offers to evaluate):</p>
<p>The terms for renewal are an important element to consider. Some GPA requirements are substantially lower than others, and this can be critical if the kid is going into a known tough-grading major. EG, my S’s Engineering scholarship required quite a low renewal GPA (he’s graduated now, so I forget the exact number but I think it was as low as 2.8; other majors at that school had higher renewal GPA’s).</p>
<p>Some schools are known to kind of “bait and switch” - the scholarships are not renewable. (I doubt this is true for the Regents; just mentioning it for others who may be reading).</p>
<p>So… don’t just go for the biggest $$ automatically. Look at the likelihood of renewal for your particular student.</p>
<p>3.5 is a high GPA to maintain in college. When my daughter was offered a full tuition scholarship, all she had to maintain was 2.5 (just to pass). If the scholarship is nice to have (you are not counting on it for your kid to stay in school) then it´s fine, otherwise I would think hard about accept a scholarship like that. It would be too stressful on your kid.</p>
<p>It will depend on the college. I would have your son inquire now about the specifics such as whether they offer a grace period if the gpa drops below 3.5.</p>
<p>Both of my kids had scholarships with required min. gpa’s. D’s was 3.25 and S’s was 3.0. Both fell below the minimum in their first semester. Both received warning letters (although they already knew it). Both were able to pull it up the next semester and maintain it the rest of the time. That first semester freshman year is very tough with all the adjustments they are dealing with.</p>
<p>As kitty56 says, it depends upon the college. I read about a couple of colleges that do lower the scholarship amount, so if one does not make the 3.5 but has a 3.1 they can get a different scholarship (less $$, but better than nothing). Other schools do not offer this. </p>
<p>My friend’s child lost her scholarship, but they did not pull it until after the 3rd semester. My guess is that they wanted to make sure that she counted in the freshmen retention numbers (number of freshmen returning after freshmen year) for college rankings. This is just my personal opinion.</p>
<p>S1 had to keep a 3.2. It was evaluated at the end of the Spring sem. There was no grace period. Scholarship would be dropped if no 3.2 at the end of every Spring sem.</p>
<p>Neighbor’s D went to a sch. that gave a grace period i.e. if her gpa was below 3.0 at end of Spring sem., they would give her the Fall sem. to get it back up.</p>
<p>It varies widely. I’ve heard stories from state publics that if the GPA falls below the level one semester, the scholarship is gone for good.</p>
<p>Other schools are very lenient. Son was at a moderately selective LAC. He got a 2.3 first semester and was supposed to keep a 3.0 to retain his considerable merit aid. I panicked. Turns out, they get another semeseter to get it up, and if they can’t get it up to a 3.0, they keep their money if they just show “substantial improvement.” THEN, at the end of the school year they changed their policy to where students just have to maintain a 2.0 to keep the money.</p>
<p>You need to ask the question directly, and in private. I’ve never seen the policies on any school’s web site. Last year, a parent asked the question outright at a “parent orientation” meeting and the administrator joked around and really didn’t answer the question. I don’t suppose the schools that have generous policies want the students to know that going in.</p>
<p>PMKjr must maintain a 3.0 per semester. If it drops below a 3.0, he has one semester to get his gpa back up. To stay in the honors college, he must maintain 3.2. </p>
<p>I think both of those are very reasonable. A 3.5 is, of course, a tougher standard. I would be very careful in reading the offer and finding out the details.</p>
<p>If my son looses his scholarship, there is no “lesser” one waiting in the wings. I would be surprised if other schools did have “back up” scholarships.</p>
<p>I feel so knowledgable about this because of what I have picked up hanging around CC. As others have said depends on the school. Call and ask. I think 3.5 is a high GPA to ask a freshman to maintain, especially for engineering, math and some sciences. I assume he has applied to other schools so you can use the min GPA as one of the criteria to compare other scholarship offers.<br>
Congrats to your S!</p>
<p>My daughter’s scholarship is in 2 parts - she has to maintain a cumulative 3.25 for the cash part, and a cumulative 3.00 for the full tuition waiver. If she loses one (or both parts), they are lost - not replaced by another scholarship. I think they are assessed at the end of the spring term. So far she has managed to keep both. We know offhand of several students who lost the same scholarship, the whole thing or at least the cash part, their first year - very smart kids all of them. A 3.5 is quite a high GPA requirement.</p>
<p>Definitely check with the school and with the particular scholarship. Every scholarship has its own rules. I know of one kid who parents wished they had opted for a slightly lower scholarship with lower retention requirements - their son lost his excellent scholarship the 1st semester (different school to my kid) but would have managed to maintain the slightly lower one.</p>
<p>3.5 seems high.</p>
<p>Is he already at the school, or are you deciding? </p>
<p>D’s is 3.0. </p>
<p>But, her minimum GPA for us to pay for the rest is 3.0, too. So all three of us are in agreement. ;)</p>
<p>3.5 is tough. My oldest had one of those and he didn’t hit the 3.5 freshman fall but was able to get there by spring and hang onto it. After freshman year it didn’t seem to be a big problem. Read the fine print regarding the scholarship. S2 has one that is 3.0 reviewed each spring and I doubt he’ll have any problem with that one. S1’s would have been gone once it was lost. S2’s has a one semester “grace” period. I’ve never heard of a “sliding scale” scholarship so that is interesting.</p>
<p>Don’t forget to look into the possibility of Appeals!</p>
<p>One of mine had a scholarship at a school which evaluated after January term. (Probably to know how to divvy up funds for FA awards in the spring). The exception was freshman year where if you fell below 3.0 in Fall, you could raise it in Spring.</p>
<p>But the school was fair with the appeal process, twice. A terrible freshman first semester but over 3.0 second semester had scholarship reinstated on ‘adjustment semester’ appeal.
Had to appeal again when the First Honors Dean’s list Fall sophomore semester only brought the cumulative GPA to 2.99 by January term; again reinstated on appeal.</p>
<p>Talk about irony…yesterday D was admitted to her first choice school with a nice scholarship that she has to maintain a 3.2 to keep. D asked me the OP’s question, almost verbatum:</p>
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<p>Guess I need to follow my own advice and call the school!</p>