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Student Aid

Applying for Scholarships and Awarding Process

Application Process

Students who are interested in applying for endowed scholarships for the upcoming academic year (fall and spring semesters) must complete a General Scholarship Application Form online via the University Scholarship Management system, myScholarships portal. The priority deadline for applications is February 1st. Students may begin applying for scholarships when they receive and activate their LEA username and password credentials, after their ApplyTexas application is complete. All student ApplyTexas applications are automatically loaded into the University Scholarship Management system, but the student MUST fill out the General Scholarship Application online in order to be eligible for any university or endowed awards. 

Each student will have multiple scholarship opportunities on their task list - those available may be listed, but are not limited to: 

  • Â鶹ÊÓƵ General Scholarship Application
  • College Application
  • Music Department Application
  • Smith-Hudson Scholars Application
  • Beck Fellowship Scholarship Application

Once a student completes an application, the myScholarships system will auto match students to any scholarship that they meet the criteria for. The myScholarships system does not allow for students to apply to individual scholarships.

Scholarship Selection Process

  • Scholarship awards are made for one academic year, with the exception of renewable scholarships. Awards are made for both fall and spring semesters simultaneously, unless the criteria specifies otherwise, or committee members agree to make justifications for a graduating student on their last semester of studies. Student will receive one scholarship disbursement per award per semester. Students awarded a scholarship for the spring semester only, will receive the full amount of their scholarship award in one disbursement. Please note: The process does not replace the donor's intent as outlined in the specified scholarship criteria.
  • The university, college scholarship coordinators have access to all scholarship applications and detailed scholarship reports including budget amounts and criteria to award for the upcoming academic year through the University Scholarship Management system. 
  • Each scholarship committee must approve the scholarship awards within their unit. The scholarship coordinator within each college will process the final selection based on the committee members' recommendations by offering the scholarship to the student via the University Scholarship Management system. 
  • The scholarship application process may be re-opened, upon request, if the committee has not exhausted their scholarship funding after reviewing all eligible applicants, who met the initial deadline.
  • The scholarship application may also be re-opened, upon request, if the original recipient declines the scholarship or becomes ineligible.

Scholarship Awarding Criteria

  • To receive a scholarship disbursement, students must enroll in the required number of hours for the academic term as identified by the agreement, be in good standing with the university, meet retention or probation requirements and complete a thank you letter to their donor. 
  • Any endowment agreement that does not specify scholarship criteria will be set up in the myScholarships system as the same criteria used for the University General Scholarships. 
  • Preferred Criteria: Scholarships will be awarded to the most qualified student who meets both the required and preferred criteria. If there are no comparable applicants with the stated preference, the award will be given to the student who meets the required criteria and noted.
  • There is no limit ser regarding scholarship offers: however, the committees are permitted to determine the number and amount of scholarships to be awarded each year. 
  • The amount of scholarships and other financial aid cannot exceed state and federal regulations or, in any case, exceed the estimated cost of attendance as determined by the University through the Student Aid Office.
  • Scholarships are only to be awarded for fall and spring terms, no summer awards should be offered. 
  • Awards will be processed in the University Scholarship Management system and pushed to BANNER after the College Scholarship Coordinator approves all awards.

Award Notification Process and Scholarship Acceptance Requirements

  • All scholarship recipients will receive an email of offer notification through their Â鶹ÊÓƵ email and a flash message within the University Scholarship Management system. These messages will be automatically generated and sent through the University Scholarship Management system. 
  • Students must accept or decline their scholarship within the time frame indicated on the scholarship offer notice from the University Scholarship Management system. Failure to do so will render the scholarship offer invalid and the scholarship will be withdrawn for the named student. The review committee will then re-award the scholarship to another student.
  • Students are required to write a thank you note(s) to their donor(s), in the specified timeframe, in order to receive their scholarship disbursement. 
  • The Scholarship Coordinator and Account Managers are responsible for re-awarding any unclaimed scholarship offers.

How to Accept a Scholarship Award

Students should log into their myScholarship portal to review any awards that have been granted. If they choose to accept, they must agree to the terms and conditions. Once accepted, the student will see the funds show up on their account no sooner than 10 days before the start of the semester in which the scholarship was awarded. 

Colleges, Departments, and Other Scholarship-Granting Units

While the Student Aid Office administers and awards many university scholarships, students can receive college/departmental scholarships, fellowships, grants, or awards from other scholarship-granting units. Currently, recognized scholarship-granting units other than the Student Aid Office include the following:

  1. College of Graduate Studies
  2. Academic Colleges
  3. Academic Departments
  4. Campus Organizations
  5. Other Administrative Units

Scholarship-granting units are responsible for ensuring that their respective scholarship award process is fair, equitable, and in compliance with appropriate rules and regulations. At a minimum, each scholarship-granting unit must establish and maintain: 

  1. A scholarship award committee to assist with the evaluation and selection of scholarship recipients.
  2. Reconciliation of scholarship accounts to ensure all budgeted funds are awarded each cycle. 
  3. Scholarship award records in compliance with record retention requirements (this is achieved through the University Scholarship Management system).
  4. Timely award notification to the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Student Aid Office.

Academic General Incoming Freshman Scholarship Information

  • University scholarships will be used as a recruiting tool for the first time in college students. 
  • Criteria for the scholarship funds are determined by the Provost and Student Aid office.
  • A student does not need to submit the online general scholarship application in order to be eligible for a first-time in college award but are required to be accepted to the University and enrolled full-time in an on-campus degree-seeking program of study. 
  • Scholars receiving these awards are guaranteed funds as long as they continue to meet eligibility.