SCHOLARSHIP AND GRANT POLICY

INSTITUTIONAL SCHOLARSHIP AND GRANT POLICY

The Philander Smith University (PSU) scholarship and grant program is designed to recognize academic achievements and special talents of students. Scholarship candidates are selected from the pool of admitted applicants. Your admissions application serves as your scholarship application. Eligibility in no way guarantees awarding. These awards are based upon both academic merit and demonstrated financial need. Both factors are essential in the awarding of institutional aid.

For some students, a merit or talent award will perfectly match their accomplishments. Others will find a variety of ways—a combination of merit-based, talent-based, and need-based awards—to make the Philander Smith education affordable.

Institutional scholarships and grants are available to assist students with their direct cost of education. The direct cost includes tuition, fees, room, and board. Most awards are not designed to cover personal, miscellaneous expenses, or for students to make a financial profit. There are some awards that are designed to provide textbooks.

In order to use limited resources to support the needs of all students, PSU reserves the right to replace institutional aid with other sources in the same amount. Endowed and non-endowed scholarship awards will be used to support the general institutional scholarship pool. In the event the University identifies that a student is an eligible candidate for an outside scholarship (e.g., UNCF, UMC) please note that students are expected to complete that application process in its entirety prior to its prescribed deadline. PSU may replace the institutional award with the outside award when the outside award covers the same costs as the college’s scholarship award. PSU reserves the right to adjust certain awards based on the availability of funds.

Institutional Scholarship Examples

President’s Scholar (Full Tuition & Fees, Room & Board, and Books)

Thomas Mason Scholarship (Full Tuition & Fees)

George C. Mason Scholarship (Half-Tuition)

Athletic Scholarship

Talent-Based Scholarship

Transfer Scholarship

S.T.A.R.T. Community Scholarship

S.T.A.R.T. Christian Scholarship

S.T.A.R.T. Urban Scholarship

S.T.A.R.T. Ambassador Scholarship

Endowed Scholarship

 

Renewal & Eligibility Criteria

To maintain eligibility, all institutional aid recipients must earn a minimum of 30 semester hours each academic year and maintain the following cumulative grade point averages annually:

Scholarship Renewal Criteria
	GPA	Hours Per Year	Max. Eligibility
START Community	2.50	30	4 Years
START Christian	2.50	30	4 Years
START Urban	3.00	30	4 Years
START Ambassador	3.00	30	4 Years
Transfer	3.00	30	2 Years
G. C. Taylor	3.00	30	4 Years
Thomas Mason	3.20	30	4 Years
Presidential	3.40	30	4 Years
Talent-Based Scholarship	Renewal Criteria Vary
Athletic Scholarship	Renewal Criteria Vary
Endowed Scholarship	Renewal Criteria Vary

 

Institutional Scholarship & Guidelines

All institutional scholarship or grant recipients must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), international students excluded.  The preferred deadline for receipt of this application is March 1st of each school year.

The scholarship or grant award will not appear on the Financial Aid Award Notification Letter until the FAFSA has been completed.

Books for President’s Scholars - Students are required to return their books to the PSU Bookstore no later than noon on the Friday of finals week during each fall and spring semester. Any student wishing to keep their books at the end of the semester can purchase their books at the reduced buy back value from the book store. A student who fails to return the books at the end of the semester will not be issued books for the next enrolled scholarship semester. PSU will supply each scholar with the required text books only. Supplemental or optional text books will be the responsibility of the student. Lost or stolen books will be the responsibility of the scholar, and replacement fees will be assessed to the scholar.

All scholarships are renewable annually for eight semesters of continuous enrollment.

The value of the scholarship will remain the same as the initial award amount, provided eligibility is maintained.

Institutional aid is not transferable when a student elects to participate in a study abroad program or an exchange program with another university.

Outside scholarships designated for tuition, fees, room & board, or other miscellaneous fees will first be used to satisfy the student’s outstanding financial obligation in the following order: tuition, room & board, fees.

Academic Scholarships or Grant awards are not offered during the summer enrollment period.

Pell Grant awards will be used along with institutional funds to meet direct costs for those students who qualify for Academic or Athletic scholarship awards. The Pell Grant combined with the Academic Scholarship will equal the value of the students Academic Scholarship.

Applications for faculty/staff tuition remission and United Methodist Church scholarship applications are due on or before March 1st of each year.

Philander Smith University reserves the right to review and adjust at any time any award to maintain compliance with federal, state, and institutional regulations.

Scholarship Student Morality Clause

All students enrolled at PSU, especially those who are receiving institutional aid, are bound and subject to all rules and regulations as set forth in the PSU Student Handbook and the Scholarship Student Morality Clause. Institutional aid includes academic, athletic and grant-in-aid funded by PSU. A student on disciplinary probation or suspension will forfeit their opportunity to receive institutional aid.

Scholarship Student Morality Clause

Any scholarship student at PSU is subject to this morality clause. A scholarship student is defined as any student who has been awarded a Presidential, Mason, Taylor, Athletic and Choir Scholarship.

Scholarship students are to refrain from any serious act of misconduct including (but not limited to) an act of dishonesty, theft or misappropriation of College property, moral turpitude, insubordination, or any act injuring, abusing, or endangering others.  Further, a scholarship student shall not commit any act or do anything which might tend to bring himself/herself or the University into public disrepute, contempt, scandal, or ridicule, or which might tend to reflect unfavorably on the University.