Scholarship Exception Request Testing
Scholarship Exception Request
Scholarship Exception Requests are available for students who wish to renew, reinstate, or defer a previously awarded scholarship, or to use a scholarship in special circumstances. The requests are reviewed by the Scholarship Committee and granted on a case-by-case basis. Approval is not guaranteed, and if granted, exceptions are for one-time use only. All decisions are final.
Please note that regardless of the status of their Scholarship Exception Request, students are responsible for making their payment when their bill is due.
The Scholarship Exception Request form and any necessary supporting documentation can be submitted to the Mountaineer Hub.
General Questions
- What scholarships can I request an exception for?
- How does losing my scholarship(s) affect my semesters of eligibility?
- How do I request an exception for a scholarship that is not a WVU Institutional Scholarship or the PROMISE Scholarship?
- Can I use my scholarship(s) in the summer?
- Can I receive my scholarship(s) while I am enrolled part-time?
How to Complete the Request
- What can I ask for when I submit a Scholarship Exception Request?
- What information do I need to provide for my Scholarship Exception Request? (including how to access the form)
- What should I address in my personal statement?
- What can I submit as third-party documentation?
- Who will see the information I provide for my Scholarship Exception Request?
Scholarship Reinstatement
- What is the difference between renewing my scholarship(s) and reinstating my scholarship(s)?
- Can I get my non-resident scholarship amounts reinstated if I am no longer going to be receiving resident tuition rates?
- Can I get my previous scholarship offer back if I am returning to WVU after transferring to another institution?
Scholarship Deferment
- What does it mean to defer my scholarship(s)?
- How does deferring my scholarship(s) affect my semesters of eligibility?
- Do I have to defer my scholarship(s) while I study abroad?
- How do I get my scholarship(s) back if I had an approved deferral?
- Can I defer my institutional scholarship offer as an incoming student?
Scholarship Committee Decision
- What are the possible outcomes of a Scholarship Exception Request?
- How does the Committee make its decision?
- When will I get a response?
- What should I do after the Committee has elected to defer its decision?
General Questions
What scholarships can I request an exception for?
WVU Institutional Scholarships: These scholarships are awarded centrally by WVU. A full list can be found on our Scholarships page.
WV PROMISE Scholarship: Only certain types of WV PROMISE Scholarship Exception Requests can be approved at the institutional level; other requests must be sent to the state for review. If documentation needs to be sent to the state, your permission will be requested before WVU forwards the information. WV PROMISE requests require third-party documentation. More information is available on the CFWV PROMISE website.
How does losing my scholarship(s) affect my semesters of eligibility?
Institutional scholarships are good for eight (8) semesters or until the completion of a bachelor’s degree — whichever comes first. Any semesters during which you did not receive your institutional scholarship(s) because you were not meeting renewal requirements will count as used semesters when determining remaining eligibility. Only remaining semesters of eligibility will be considered when requesting your scholarship be reinstated after you have improved your eligibility standing.
WV PROMISE Scholarship cannot be reinstated once it is lost due to using all available semesters of eligibility.
How do I request an exception for a scholarship that is not a WVU Institutional Scholarship or the PROMISE Scholarship?
For other scholarships that are not an institutional scholarship or the WV PROMISE Scholarship, you must contact the scholarship provider for any exception requests. For departmental scholarships awarded by one of WVU’s individual colleges/schools, please contact your department or dean’s office.
Can I use my scholarship(s) in the summer?
Institutional scholarships can only be used in the summer if you are graduating in the summer or the following fall semester. You must be meeting renewal requirements at the end of the previous spring semester. If approved, you must be enrolled in at least six (6) credit hours during the summer to use your scholarship, and summer will count as a semester of eligibility used. If you are requesting to use the WV PROMISE Scholarship during the summer, a separate application is required. More information can be found on the official PROMISE website.
Can I receive my scholarship(s) while I am enrolled part-time?
You may only receive your institutional scholarship(s) while enrolled part-time if the semester for which you are submitting your request is your last semester before graduating. If approved, you will have to be enrolled in at least six (6) credit hours during your final semester. Please note that in this situation, the scholarship may appear listed on your account under a different scholarship name in order for it to pay out properly to your student account.
For the WV PROMISE Scholarship, you may receive a prorated amount in your final two (2) semesters of eligibility only. You will be automatically evaluated for part-time WV PROMISE eligibility.
How to Complete the Request
What can I ask for when I submit a Scholarship Exception Request?
You may ask the Committee to renew, reinstate, or defer a previously awarded scholarship. You may also ask to use your scholarships in the summer or have your out-of-state scholarship amounts reinstated if you are losing the ability to pay in-state tuition. If you are nearing graduation, you may also ask to use your scholarship while attending less than full-time.
What information do I need to provide for my Scholarship Exception Request?
The Scholarship Exception Request form asks for basic information like your name, student ID number and MIX email address. It will also ask you to provide a written personal statement explaining why you are requesting an exception. Please provide as much relevant information as you are comfortable with to allow the Committee to make a fair decision about your circumstances. It is highly recommended that you provide third-party documentation when submitting your form. Third-party documentation will be required when requesting exceptions for the WV PROMISE Scholarship and some other institutional scholarships.
Scholarship Exception Request formBy submitting a request, students agree to provide accurate, true and complete documentation. False information provided may be cause for the denial, reduction and/or repayment of financial aid, and may be subject to a fine, imprisonment, or both under provisions of the U.S. Criminal Code.
What should I address in my personal statement?
If you are appealing to have your scholarship reinstated, you should address what extenuating circumstances prevented you from meeting the renewal requirements for the scholarship and what steps you are taking/will take to improve in the future.
What can I submit as third-party documentation?
For health-related requests, you may submit a letter from your doctor stating you are receiving treatment or stating they are approving you returning to school.
For internships and co-op experiences, please provide official documentation about the semester(s) and how many credit hours you are expecting to earn.
For study-abroad experiences, you should include documentation that lists:
- the name and host country for your study abroad program
- the program provider
- the start and end dates for the program
- how many credit hours you expect to earn, and
- the semester you plan to return to WVU
When requesting exceptions for personal reasons, you should provide any additional documentation that would help the Committee make a fair decision regarding your situation.
Other third-party documents that the Committee has received have been newspaper articles, emails, letters from other WVU departments, and obituaries.
Who will see the information I provide for my Scholarship Exception Request?
Only those on the Scholarship Committee will see your Scholarship Exception Request form, and the information you provide will be kept strictly confidential. If the WV PROMISE Scholarship requires you to send your appeal to the state, your permission will be requested before WVU forwards any documents.
Scholarship Reinstatement
What is the difference between renewing my scholarship(s) and reinstating my scholarship(s)?
You may request a renewal if you do not have the GPA or earned credit hours the scholarship requires to renew for the next academic year. In order to be reviewed for a renewal in this situation, you must explain the extenuating circumstances that have prevented you from meeting the renewal requirements.
You may request a reinstatement if you have previously lost your scholarship and now would like to receive it again based on your improved academic performance. This will also require you to explain the extenuating circumstances that caused you to lose your scholarship, and what you have done to ensure you are now prepared to maintain the scholarship’s requirements.
Please note that the WV PROMISE Scholarship cannot be reinstated once it is lost. See the WV PROMISE Scholarship website for more information.
Can I get my non-resident scholarship amounts reinstated if I am no longer going to be receiving resident tuition rates?
Yes. If you are submitting an exception request for this, you will need to have changed your major and been assessed non-resident rates before the scholarship(s) can be placed back on your account.
Can I get my previous scholarship offer back if I am returning to WVU after transferring to another institution?
No. Students who attend another post-secondary institution, except for a WVU-approved study abroad experience or summer enrollment, forfeit any remaining semesters of their first-time freshmen scholarships. If you are later readmitted as a Returning Student at WVU, you may request consideration for a WVU Transfer Scholarship. For more information, visit our Transfer Scholarships page.
Please note that a decision will be delayed until your transcripts have been received and processed.
Scholarship Deferment
What does it mean to defer my scholarship(s)?
If you are not going be attending WVU for a semester or more in order to accommodate an internship, co-op experience, study abroad experience, or other personal reasons, you may request a deferral. You may not request a deferral if you plan on taking classes at another institution while being officially withdrawn from WVU.
To defer due to internships and co-op experiences, please include documentation about the semester(s) you will be participating in the internship experience and how many credit hours you are expecting to earn.
To defer due to study-abroad experiences, you should include documentation that lists:
- the name and host country for your study abroad program
- the program provider
- the start and end dates for the program
- how many credit hours you expect to earn, and
- the semester you plan to return to WVU
To defer due to personal reasons, you should provide additional documentation that allows the Committee to make a fair decision regarding your situation.
How does deferring my scholarship affect my semesters of eligibility?
Institutional scholarships are good for eight (8) semesters or until the completion of a bachelor’s degree — whichever comes first. If the Committee approves your deferral, the semesters that you are deferring will not count against your semesters of eligibility. For example, if you have used three (3) semesters of eligibility and you request to defer the spring semester for a co-op, you will still have only used three (3) semesters at the end of spring if the Committee approves the deferral. You will still have five (5) semesters of eligibility to use later.
Do I have to defer my scholarship(s) while I study abroad?
For institutional scholarships, if you are sure you will still meet the renewal requirements for your scholarships, you are not required to defer. Some students do elect to defer to ensure they meet the earned hours requirement. Many students studying abroad are not able to register for classes before arrival at their host institution. This, along with different grading systems or a trimester verses WVU’s semester system, can result in fewer credits transferring back than initially assumed. Students may also find it difficult to take summer classes to make up earned hours due to the different academic calendars of host institutions. By deferring for one semester, your eligibility will be reviewed using the one semester requirement of fifteen (15) earned hours instead of the normal thirty (30) hour requirement. Students must still meet the overall GPA requirement.
WV PROMISE will only pay toward tuition and fees at an institution in West Virginia. If you are planning to participcate in an affiliate study abroad experience where the costs are not billed through WVU, you will need to defer PROMISE. Students participating in WVU exchange or faculty-led programs that are still billed by WVU may elect to defer for the same reasons stated above for institutional scholarships. More information can be found on the official PROMISE website.
How do I get my scholarships(s) back if I had an approved deferral?
You will need to submit an online request letting the Committee know what semester you are planning on returning so they can reapply the scholarships to your account.
Can I defer my institutional scholarship offer as an incoming student?
No. If you are electing to sit out a semester or more, you will be considered for institutional scholarships once you are readmitted as an incoming first-time freshman provided you meet all the deadlines and requirements. If you attend another institution, you will be considered for a WVU Transfer Scholarship once you are readmitted.
Scholarship Committee Decision
What are the possible outcomes of a Scholarship Exception Request?
The Committee can elect to approve, deny, or defer its decision for your request.
If the Committee approves your request, the scholarship(s) will be placed back on your account, and you will be notified via email to your MIX account.
If the Committee denies your request, your scholarship(s) will not be reinstated. You will be notified of this decision via email to your MIX account.
The Committee may defer its decision. The Committee may need to wait for grades to be posted or for changes on your account before reviewing your request. You will receive an email to your MIX account letting you know of this decision and the steps you will need to take next.
How does the Committee make its decision?
The Committee will look at your request and the information you provide. It will also consider your GPA and earned hours during your time as a WVU student. Other exception request submissions may be taken into consideration.
Please make sure you are providing as much information as you are comfortable with that allows the Committee to make a fair, informed decision. The Committee’s decisions are final.
When will I get a response?
Once you submit your exception request, if no additional documentation is required, you should receive a decision in 5-7 business days. You will receive an email to your MIX account that explains the Committee's decision.
If more documentation is required, the Committee will reach out to you, and you should receive a decision 5-7 business days after you provide the information.
What should I do after the Committee has elected to defer its decision?
If the Committee defers your decision, you will receive an email to your MIX account letting you know the next steps.
The Committee may choose to review your request at a later date or ask you to resubmit a new request once more information is available. For example, the Committee may wait to review your request after the current semester’s grades post, or you may be asked to resubmit a request once you complete and receive grades for summer classes. The email you receive will inform you of all necessary details.