Policy 6-420: Scholarship, Grant, Fellowship and Tuition Waiver Policy - Regulations Library

Purpose and Scope
1. Purpose
  
  The purpose of this policy is to enhance the overall coordination of Scholarship, Grant, Fellowship and Tuition Waiver and related forms of financial aid for students, as between individual academic colleges and departments, service departments, and all personnel involved in the student financial aid awarding process. Public confidence in University stewardship of these resources is achieved when the highest ethical standards of impartiality and fairness are maintained through all stages of processing awards and when internal controls operate effectively.
2. Scope
  
  The policy applies to all Scholarship, Grant, Fellowship and Tuition Waiver given to any student enrolled at the University of Utah. Fellowships would include refundable (cash) awards made to graduate and professional students to assist with paying tuition charges.
  
  If a student is applying for Title IV Federal Aid, all resources of aid will be considered when awarding Scholarship, Grant, Fellowship and Tuition Waiver. If a student is awarded aid in excess of their cost of attendance, aid from all sources will need to be reviewed and possibly adjusted to bring the student within the cost of attendance for the academic year.
3. Covered Members of the University Community
  
  This policy applies to all offices and personnel of the University involved in the solicitation, management and awarding of student financial aid funds, including University trustees, officers, administrators, faculty, staff, other employees and students.
  
  All academic colleges or equivalent units through their administrators, faculty, and staff must comply with this policy. Failure to do so may result in incorrect recording or application of Scholarship, Grant, Fellowship and Tuition Waiver and may result in the University’s non-compliance with federal or state laws and regulations.
Definitions

For the limited purposes of this Policy and any associated Regulations, these words and phrases have the following meaning
1. Institutional Award
  
  The University of Utah has several types of institutional awards that are offered to students. This aid includes need-based grants, merit scholarships, and endowed awards. The University has processes in place that review students for awards of institutional aid based on specific eligibility criteria.
2. Federal Financial Aid
  
  Financial Aid offered by the federal government is primarily administered by the U.S. Department of Education under the Higher Education Act of 1965, Title IV, in the form of grants, loans and work study. The Department of Education provides the University of Utah with funds for eligible students and requires that the funds are distributed based on set criteria.
3. Scholarship
  
  A financial award to a student, who is enrolled at the University, for the purpose of study. Such amount is not a loan and there is no expectation of repayment. Likewise, no past, present, or future services can be required as a condition of receiving such amount. The student must meet applicable scholarship, criteria, which might include merit, need, talent, or other components.
4. Grant
  
  A financial award to a student, who is enrolled at the University, for the purpose of study. Grants can come from the federal government, state government, the institution, or a private or nonprofit organization. Such amount is not a loan and there is no expectation of repayment. Likewise, no past, present, or future services can be required as a condition of receiving such amount. Students must meet applicable grant criteria, which may include need, merit, or both need and merit.
5. Fellowship
  
  A financial award to a graduate student, or a post-graduate fellow, to aid in the pursuit of study or research. Such amount is not a loan and there is no expectation of repayment. A Fellowship is not a payment for teaching, performing research, or other services. A Fellowship recipient is selected based on specific criteria, which is typically set by the federal or state governments or the institution. The amount awarded may count towards requirements for the student to be eligible for the University of Utah’s Graduate Tuition Benefit Program.
6. Tuition Waiver
  
  Allows for a portion of a student’s tuition not to be paid. The student is responsible for payment of the remaining tuition not covered by the Tuition Waiver. Tuition Waivers are normally awarded for two semesters per academic year. Students may utilize their Tuition Waiver for any semester (fall, spring, or summer) during which they are enrolled full-time (a minimum of 12 credit hours for undergraduate students and 9 credit hours for graduate and post graduate students). Students cannot receive a Tuition Waiver for more than eight semesters. Incompletes, repeat hours, withdrawals, correspondence courses and audited courses are not acceptable to be counted towards the full-time enrollment requirement for renewal of aid. A student may only receive one Tuition Waiver at a time. Multiple Tuition Waivers cannot be used in a single semester.
7. Cost of attendance
  
  The cost of attendance is an estimate of the school related expenses the student can expect to have for the academic year, or semester of enrollment. The cost of attendance is composed of the following categories: tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board, transportation, and some personal expenses. These components are determined by the Higher Education Act of 1965, section 472, and are designed to cover the education-related expenses of a student.
Policy
1. General Principles for Financial Aid to Students
  
  The University of Utah may award Scholarship, Grant, Fellowship and Tuition Waiver to degree-seeking undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students, using funds provided by alumni and other private donors, federal and state government, and the University, based on need, merit, or a combination of both need and merit. For similar purposes, the University may also provide some categories of student financial assistance in the form of Tuition Waiver or Fellowship.
  
  Student enrollment initiatives are key components to the success of the University’s mission and strategic goals. The University strives to use awards of Scholarship, Grant, Fellowship and Tuition Waiver to attract and retain students with exceptional academic ability and students from varying backgrounds, and to enable qualified students who need financial assistance to be able to attend and graduate. Enrollment targets and related scholarship aid funding are reviewed annually in accordance with university-wide goals.
2. Organizational Responsibility of University Units Participating in Financial Aid
  1. Enrollment Management Division
    
    The Enrollment Management Division is responsible for communicating University enrollment strategies and goals to those persons who are part of the financial aid planning and awarding process.
  2. University Office of Scholarship and Financial Aid
    
    The University Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid must comply with all applicable federal, state and University policies when it awards Scholarship, Grant, Fellowship and Tuition Waiver or any other form of financial aid assistance; determine student financial need; maintain associated systems and procedures required to facilitate the same; provide access to relevant and necessary information to assist in the collaborative awarding of Scholarship, Grant, Fellowship and Tuition Waiver or other form of aid; and provide to the appropriate development officers information required for reports made to donors.
  3. Development Officers
    
    Development officers are expected to communicate the University’s scholarship funding priorities to potential donors and must ensure that reports are provided to actual donors regarding the successful selection of students and the achievement of enrollment objectives using information provided by academic departments and the University Office of Scholarship and Financial Aid. All effective awarding criteria is subject to approval by the University Office of Scholarship and Financial Aid.
  4. Academic and Other Awarding Units
    
    The University unit which contemplates providing Scholarship, Grant, Fellowship and Tuition Waiver not administered by the University Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid must select the student recipients consistent with the terms of any donative agreements; enter the student award in the Department Award module in the Scholarship Administration software; notify the student in writing as to their award status and next steps so that official awards can be completed; and coordinate with other units where multiple award eligibility is a possibility. Deans, or equivalent officers of academic units must annually certify compliance with donor agreements for any such awarded grants.
3. Procedures for Setting Eligibility Criteria, Awarding and Monitoring of Scholarship, Grant, Fellowship and Tuition Waiver
  1. Award procedures must be approved by proper authorities and documentation should be submitted to the University Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid prior to the student being awarded the funds.
  2. Eligibility criteria will be established for initial and continuing eligibility. These criteria should be clearly defined in published program materials.
    1. Initial eligibility criteria are criteria that each recipient must meet to initially qualify for an award.
    2. Continuing eligibility criteria are criteria each recipient must meet to retain the award for subsequent semesters.
    3. While donors may participate in developing the criteria for an award – no donor shall participate directly in the selection of any award recipient or in the determination of a recipient’s continuing eligibility.
    4. Documentation of financial need must be completed by the University’s office with responsibility for determining need, The University Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.
    5. All documentation of eligibility must be retained for all award recipients for the required number of years following the fiscal year in which the award is made. Where compliance with eligibility is already on file in the central University database, such as a student’s grade point average, the electronic record is sufficient.
  3. The academic term for which any Scholarship, Grant, Fellowship and Tuition Waiver is to be treated as received (e.g. for evaluating a student’s financial resources), is the term in which the payment is received.
  4. The University Office of Scholarship and Financial Aid will be the University authority on determining student financial need, as determined by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and through federal methodology as defined by the U.S. Department of Education. The Office will be responsible for coordination, and determination of financial eligibility for all need-based Scholarship, Grant, Fellowship and Tuition Waiver and for the financial eligibility component of all merit-based Scholarship, Grant, Fellowship and Tuition Waiver that have a need-based component.
  5. To remain compliant with Title IV Federal Aid, there must be a standardized coordinated disbursement of all Scholarship, Grant, Fellowship and Tuition Waiver and any other awards through the University Office of Scholarship and Financial Aid.
  6. For awards which are administered through the University’s centrally managed scholarship programs, ceremonial presentations of actual awards including cash or checks to students are prohibited. Colleges and departments are encouraged to identify other appropriate means of symbolizing presentation of the award during banquets and other ceremonies.
  7. The University complies with federal and state laws and regulations governing the awarding, disbursing, and reporting of all forms of financial aid, including Scholarship, Grant, Fellowship and Tuition Waiver.
  8. When an institutional award made by the University is coordinated with federal or state financial aid provided to a student, the student’s total assistance from the University and the federal or state sources cannot exceed the student’s cost of attendance, as determined by the University Office of Scholarships an Financial Aid, consistent with federal and state regulations. Standard coordination rules allow federal student loans to be adjusted to meet the cost of attendance and work study to be replaced by the institutional award. If the institutional award is greater than the total federal student loans and work study award, need-based grant aid may be reduced.
  9. All aid awarded to a student will be applied to institutional charges. Any excess aid after all institutional charges have been paid will be refunded to the student.
Rules, Procedures, Guidelines, Forms and Other Related Resources

Rules (reserved)

Procedures (reserved)

Guidelines (reserved)

Forms (reserved)

Other Related Resource Materials (reserved)
References

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Contacts

The designated contact officials for this Policy are
1. Policy Owner (primary contact person for questions and advice): Senior Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management.
2. Policy Officers: Sr. Vice President for Academic Affairs and the S. Vice President for Health Sciences.
  
  See University Rule 1-001 for information about the roles and authority of policy owners and policy officers.
History
1. Current Version. Revision 1. Effective July 1, 2024
2. Previous Versions.
  1. Revision 0. Effective July 1, 2017
  2. Legislative History Revision 0