Renewing Your Scholarship FAQ

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Scholarships are normally reviewed for renewal after spring semester grades are posted.  The cumulative Truman GPA computed at this time determines the renewal award for the following academic year.  Subsequent summer and fall grades are not reviewed for renewal unless you increase your cumulative Truman GPA and request that we review your award. You must pass at least 24 credit hours during the academic year and not have used eight semesters of scholarship or the pro-rated number of semesters if you are a transfer student. Only Truman hours and GPA are used to calculate renewal.  Scholarship renewal values will be calculated according to the following scale.

All scholarships are renewed for the academic year with this scale.

3.25 and above = Full renewal

3.20 – 3.24 = 90% of original value

3.10 – 3.19 = 80% of original value

3.00 – 3.09 = 70% of original value

After your first two semesters at Truman, your scholarships will no longer be listed individually.  If the value of all of your Truman academic scholarships is $1500 or less per semester, they will appear as “Sch. Renew – No Service Required.”

After your first two semesters at Truman, your scholarships will no longer be listed individually. If the value of all of your Truman academic scholarships is more than $1,500 per semester, they will appear as “Truman Service Sch. Renewal” and “Truman Service Sch. – Taxable.” The “taxable” portion of your scholarship is the value we have assigned to the 51 service hours you are required to perform. To calculate the full value of your scholarship you must add the “renewal” and “taxable” portion together.

If your scholarship is renewed with the service option, $550 of each semester’s total amount will be reflected on a W-2 form at the end of the calendar year.

Questions regarding tax reporting requirements for any scholarships should be answered by the IRS or a qualified tax preparer.

Students who initially enroll and receive scholarships in the spring semester are off schedule – spring/fall awards instead of fall/spring. Renewal for these students is not reviewed until after the second semester of the scholarship award which would be fall semester. Students who meet the renewal criteria for the subsequent spring semester are reviewed again after that semester to be on the normal yearly cycle of renewal.

No.  You can only increase your scholarship value after fall grades are posted.  We will not decrease the value unless you had appealed for renewal and the committee required you to maintain a certain GPA for spring renewal.

Unless otherwise stated, scholarships awarded to beginning freshmen can be used for up to eight continuous semesters.  Length of potential scholarship eligibility for transfer students is as follows:

12-29.9 Transfer Hours = 8 semesters of eligibility

30-59.9 Transfer Hours = 7 semesters of eligibility

60-89.9 Transfer Hours = 5 semesters of eligibility

90 or more Transfer Hours = 3 semesters of eligibility

You need to complete the Online Scholarship Renewal that is available under your student portal by clicking “Tools, Student, Student Tools.”  Select “Renew Scholarship Online” under the “Scholarships, Financial Aid, and Loans” section.  If you need to locate a scholarship position, please check out Tru-Positions.

If your scholarship requires the service option and you elect to take full renewal, you need to locate a department that agrees to have you perform the service hours in their area.  You will enter departmental information in the online process and your information will be transmitted to the supervisor for approval then forwarded to the Financial Aid Office automatically.  This process must be completed before scholarships are applied to your student account.

Once you are approved by both the department you are completing your service hours in and the Financial Aid office, you will have a timecard that you will need to record your hours on.  More information regarding the Online Timecard System can be found here.

If the value of your scholarship requires scholarship service hours the scholarship renewal process should be completed annually beginning with the third semester of the award. You should complete the renewal process as soon as you know you qualify for renewal. The online renewal process can be completed prior to leaving campus in the spring if you anticipate that you will meet the criteria for renewal. If you wait until the beginning of the fall semester to begin the process it may take several weeks to finalize your scholarship. This will affect the amount of fees due to the University.  Your scholarship will not apply to your student account in a timely manner and you will need to make payment arrangements with Student Accounts, pay the amount due and be reimbursed when the scholarship is credited to your account, and/or incur interest charges on your balance due.

All scholarship awards that total more than $1,500 per semester require 51 service hours for each semester of renewal. Failure to complete the 51 hours will result in a charge to your student account. This charge is a prorated amount of your scholarship based on the percentage of hours not completed. The service requirement is the same if you live on or off campus. Because the value of your scholarship could increase after fall semester, it is possible to not need to perform the service hours for one semester then have the value increase for spring and be required to do the hours for that term.

A student may elect to receive one-half the value of the scholarship (or $1,500 per semester, whichever is greater) without performing the service hours.  You will need to complete the online renewal to notify Financial Aid that you are taking this option.

At the end of each semester, Financial Aid reviews student timecards for each student who chose the service option. If the hours do not meet the 51 hour requirement, your scholarship amount will be adjusted to reflect the number of hours not completed. Student Accounts will send an invoice indicating the amount due. Adjustments can be made after billing if the student provides proof in the form of a University student timecard that the hours were completed and approved by their supervisor. Any request for adjustments must be completed during the same calendar year (January 1 – December 31) due to the University being required to issue a W-2 form for the work portion of the scholarship.

You do not have to submit a scholarship renewal form if your scholarship is $1,500 or less per semester and does not require service hours.  The Financial Aid Office will automatically renew your scholarship as long as you meet all requirements.

Yes. If your first choice of a position does not have sufficient work for you to complete 51 hours in one semester, you are responsible for finding other positions to fulfill the requirement. Please complete the scholarship renewal process for each position. Indicate “Original Renewal” for the first position and then click on “2nd Position” for each additional position.

Yes. You can change departments at any time. Please go to the renewal process in TruView and complete the process indicating “Revised – Position Change” as the option.

Yes, in certain areas of the community but you cannot be paid by the organization for the service hours. Currently approved sites are listed below.  If you wish to do service hours at one of these organizations you should contact them for available positions prior to completing the scholarship renewal process.  Call the Financial Aid Office if you need contact information.

Adair County Historical Society

Adair County Humane Society

Adair County Public Library

Adair County YMCA

American Red Cross

A.T. Still University

City of Kirksville

Early Childhood Learning Center

Jamison Street Head Start

Kirksville Area Technical Center

Kirksville Arts Association

Kirksville Child Development Center

Kirksville R-III Schools

Manor Care Nursing Home

Missouri Department of Conservation

NEMO Area Health Education Center

Northeast Missouri Community Action Agency

SBTDC

United Way of Adair County

If you have never worked for the University (Federal Work-Study, Institutional Payroll, or scholarship), you must complete I-9 and W-4 forms in the Payro. These forms must be completed prior to beginning the online scholarship renewal process in TruView. Identification is required (see I-9 form for list of acceptable documents).

No. Hours may not be accumulated during a semester to apply to future terms. Fall service hours must be completed between August 1 and December 31, spring hours must be completed between January 1 and May 31, and summer hours (if applicable) must be completed between May and August.  Hours can never overlap calendar years.

No.  Fall service hours must be completed between August 1 and December 31, spring hours must be completed between January 1 and May 31, and summer hours (if applicable) must be completed between May and August.

Yes. If after any term you raise your cumulative Truman GPA within range of the renewal scale and/or make up any deficient hours, contact the Financial Aid Office. Hours taken at Truman the summer following the academic year may count toward the deficient hours and/or GPA. However, credit hours taken at other institutions will not be counted toward renewal.

No.  Truman academic scholarships will apply to tuition, on-campus room and board, and approved special course fees only.  Any scholarship funds in excess of those three items will be returned to the University scholarship fund.  More information regarding approved special course fees can be found on the Registrar’s website here.

Students cannot use excess scholarship funds towards an off-campus meal plans, bonus bucks, or books.  University scholarship funds cannot be refunded or used to pay for off-campus living expenses.

Yes.  In order to receive your scholarship you have to be enrolled as a full-time student.  Full-time status is 12 hours for an undergraduate student and 9 hours for a graduate student.

No.  If you are graduating during the term that you are receiving the scholarship (i.e. December for Fall scholarship dollars; May for Spring scholarship dollars) and do not need to be a full-time student to graduate, your scholarship amount may be pro-rated for the number of hours you are enrolled in.  You will need to contact the Financial Aid office if this situation applies to you.

No.  If you are enrolled full-time, semesters of scholarship eligibility must be used consecutively.  The summer semester is excluded from this policy.

No.  Any unused amount due to withdrawing is returned to the scholarship fund and cannot be used during future semesters.

Yes.  You will need to complete the online scholarship renewal and choose Summer. This will provide you with a form that will need to be completed. Requests for use of your scholarship during the summer term will be considered by request only and requests must be submitted before the end of the term.  Using your scholarship during the summer term does count as one of your semesters of eligibility. You must meet the renewal requirements after the spring semester to use your scholarship during the summer term. Requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis and approval for summer usage is at the discretion of the Financial Aid Office.

No.  The first two semesters of scholarship eligibility must be used during the spring semester of initial enrollment and the following fall semester.

In most cases you can use scholarship funds for a study abroad program.   You should see the Financial Aid Office to determine if your program qualifies.  Scholarships that are designed to go towards the out-of-state portion of tuition cannot be used for faculty-led study abroad trips as all students are charged in-state tuition. Scholarship service hours are not required for the term you are studying abroad.   You will need to complete the online scholarship renewal and choose Study Abroad.  This will provide you with a form that will need to be completed by both you and the Study Abroad Office.

Yes, as long as your maintain continuous enrollment.  For example, graduating in December and starting the graduate program in January or graduating in May and starting the graduate program in August.  The value of the scholarship will not be increased to cover the additional tuition costs.

Truman follows the lead established by federal guidelines for the Pell Grant Program regarding institutional aid and the pursuit of an additional undergraduate degree after graduating from the University. Undergraduate institutional aid is designed to assist students in attaining initial graduation in their academic program(s). Regardless of remaining semesters of scholarship eligibility, institutional aid for the pursuit of additional undergraduate degrees post-graduation is not available.

If you are receiving Truman credit for an off-campus internship then you are not required to complete scholarship service hours. You will need to complete the online scholarship renewal and choose Internship.  This will provide you with a form that will need to be completed by both you and your Truman Internship advisor.

If the internship location is on-campus, you are required to complete the scholarship service hours in a different department than the one in which you are completing your internship.