SUBJECT: COORDINATION OF UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP ADMINISTRATION 

APPLICABILITY: TOTAL UNIVERSITY

 General Criteria

The University of North Texas (UNT) encourages students to apply for scholarship assistance through all sources available.   Most scholarships have a deadline for application and other specific criteria that must be met. The dollar value of a scholarship along with other financial aid awards cannot exceed the estimated cost per year of student expenses as determined by the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships (SFAS).  In the administration and awarding of scholarships, no person shall be subject to discrimination on any basis prohibited by applicable law or university policy, including but not limited to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, disability or Vietnam veteran status. 

Generally, academic based scholarships that are open to entering freshmen require that the applicants rank in the top quarter of their graduating class and have scored at least 1200 on the SAT or 27 on the ACT.  Scholarships open to continuing or transfer students typically require a 3.0 cumulative grade point average.

Sources of Scholarships

Students may apply for donor-related scholarships awarded by the University Scholarship Committee by completing the General Application Scholarship form available at www.unt.edu/finaid. 

Board of Regents and Texas Transfer scholarships are also awarded by the University Scholarship Committee.  To be considered for these scholarships, a completed Admissions application must be submitted to the Admissions Office.  Availability of scholarship funding is very limited, thus early admissions application is important.

Students should contact the departments of their major for information about departmental scholarships. 

Graduate students typically apply for scholarships through the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies.

Private organizations such as parents’ employers, fraternal organizations, and business/professional groups can often provide other sources of financial aid.  Students can conduct free scholarship searches using www.fastweb.com.  When scholarship funds are received from private sources, the monies will be posted to individual student accounts according to the directive of the donor.

Departmental Scholarship Deadlines and Awards

By no later than April of each year, SFAS shall issue a schedule to all departments to be followed for the award of departmental scholarships in the upcoming academic year.   SFAS shall also issue forms that must be submitted by departments in order for a departmental scholarship to be posted by SFAS and in order for a student to qualify for a competitive scholarship waiver.   In order to coordinate all financial assistance that a student receives for financial aid purposes, the SFAS schedule for awarding departmental scholarships must be followed. 

A scholarship award must specify the term or terms in which it will be in effect.  Departmental scholarships are usually awarded for the academic year with payments for scholarship recipients divided equally between the fall and spring terms.  The summer term following fall and spring is considered part of the academic year for the purpose of evaluating total financial assistance awarded to a student, but departmental scholarships for the summer are designated separately.  Departmental scholarships can be awarded for one term. Awards under $1,000 will limit the applicability of a competitive scholarship waiver. 

In a fiscal year, a student’s scholarships and other financial aid, including competitive scholarship waivers, cannot exceed the annual cost of education for the student as established by SFAS.  Therefore, the award of a scholarship that qualifies a student for a competitive scholarship waiver may make the student ineligible to receive other types of financial aid. 

Competitive Scholarship Waivers

Section 54.064 of the Texas Education Code provides for a competitive scholarship waiver of nonresident tuition for a nonresident or international student who receives a competitive scholarship totaling at least $1,000 (the $1,000 can be a combination of several smaller scholarships or a single UNT scholarship).  A competitive scholarship waiver allows the qualifying student to pay the fees and charges required of Texas residents without regard to the length of time the student has resided in Texas.   In order to qualify as a competitive scholarship for purposes of the waiver, the student must compete with other students, including Texas residents, for the scholarship and the scholarship must be awarded by a scholarship committee officially recognized by the administration and be approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board under criteria developed by the Board.   Competitive scholarships must be awarded in accordance with factors set forth in a written policy and published in the catalog of the University or the catalog or website of the awarding college, school or department in advance of any scholarship application deadline.   

Competitive scholarships may be awarded by the University Scholarship Committee or by scholarship committees within individual colleges, schools or departments.  Normally, committees awarding competitive scholarships must have at least three members, must vote in making awards and must keep minutes of committee proceedings.   A committee awarding competitive scholarships under an alternative process must set out the process in writing and have it approved by the Student Financial Aid and Scholarships office and the Office of General Counsel prior to any awarding of scholarships.  A college, school or department issuing a competitive scholarship waiver must be able to demonstrate that the requirements of a waiver have been met.   Scholarships open only to Texas residents are not considered competitive scholarships and do not provide a waiver of tuition.  External scholarships (non-university awarded) are not eligible for the competitive scholarship waiver.   

A waiver based on a competitive scholarship award lasts for the period of the scholarship (up to a 12-month period).    A student who qualifies for a competitive scholarship waiver during fall and spring may also qualify for the waiver during the summer term if the award is made for an ‘academic year.’  A recipient must be notified in writing by the department of the term(s) in which a waiver is in effect.   If a scholarship is terminated, the corresponding waiver is also canceled automatically.  If a scholarship is to be issued in multiple disbursements and is less than $1,000 when an award is terminated, a student does not owe a refund for the tuition that has been waived, since the waiver was granted in good faith.  However, the waiver shall be canceled for the term(s) for which the scholarship is no longer applicable.  A competitive scholarship waiver is not applicable from one fiscal year to another; a student must qualify for the waiver each fiscal year.  

If a scholarship recipient is concurrently enrolled at more than one public institution in the State of Texas, a waiver of nonresident tuition is only effective at the institution awarding the scholarship.  An exception for this rule exists for a nonresident or international student who is simultaneously enrolled in two or more public institutions of higher education in the State of Texas through a program offered jointly by the institutions under a consortium agreement.  If one of the consortium schools awards the student a competitive scholarship waiver in accordance with the Texas Education Code, then the student is also entitled to a waiver at the other institution(s).

Academic schools, colleges and departments are responsible for maintaining a list of approved competitive scholarships to ensure that awards are disbursed to students in accordance with federal, state and institutional regulations and for audit purposes.

The total number of UNT students paying resident tuition on the basis of competitive scholarship waivers for a particular term may not exceed 5 percent of the total number of UNT students enrolled in the same term in the prior year.

By action of the Faculty Senate (November 12, 1986), recipients of any newly created competitive academic scholarship established within thirty (30) days of the beginning of a term or summer are ineligible for a competitive academic scholarship waiver of nonresident tuition during the first term or summer the scholarship is in existence.   Any exceptions to this rule must be approved by Student Financial Aid and Scholarships, the University Scholarship Committee, and the Vice President for Academic Affairs.