Merit Scholarships and Need-Based Grant Renewal Policy

Merit Scholarships and Need-Based Grants are offered to students as part of the undergraduate admissions process. These awards assume that students will maintain continuous full-time enrollment and are only valid for the number of terms normally required to earn an undergraduate degree. The scholarship amounts are set as part of the admissions process and are not increased during the student's enrollment at Notre Dame. The University reserves the right to cancel or reduce the scholarship of any student found guilty of disciplinary or honor code violations.

Unless noted on the award letter, institutional scholarship funds are applied to tuition charges only. If you drop a class AND receive a tuition refund, your scholarship will be proportionally adjusted based on your lower tuition cost. Scholarships will cancelled for students who choose to enroll on a part-time basis (less than 12 credits in both fall and spring semesters.  Winterim courses will not be counted for the spring semester when determining full time status for institutional scholarships.)

All initial scholarship recipients will need to sign a Scholarship Acceptance Form (found on the Forms and Publications Page) before funds can be credited to their accounts. The Scholarship Acceptance Forms outline the conditions for renewing institutional merit scholarship awards.  Recipients of Endowed Scholarships must also write a thank you note to their scholarship donor. You will be contacted by a member of the Institutional Advancement Office about completing a thank you note.  Please note: the scholarships listed below are for undergraduate students only.  Student's pursuing a second baccalaureate degree, graduate degree, or specialized programs such as the 3–2  dual-degree program are not eligible.   

Requirements for Scholarship and Grant Renewal

Renewal Requirements:

All scholarship awards, with the exception of the Transfer Scholarship and Notre Dame Award for Transfer Students are available for a total of eight undergraduate semesters.Transfer Scholarships and Notre Dame Award for Transfer Students are available for a total of six semesters. 

The Office of Financial Aid will review recipient's cumulative grade point averages at the end each semester to determine their eligibility for continued funding. To have their scholarships automatically renewed, recipients must achieve the requirements for their specific scholarship listed above.

Financial Aid Appeals Committee

The Financial Aid Appeals Committee will review the academic records for all students who do not automatically meet the renewal requirements for their scholarship award. Students are placed on a Scholarship Warning the first semester they fail to meet their scholarship requirements.  After the second consecutive semester of failing to meet scholarship standards, the student's scholarship is then suspended.

Students will receive written notification if the Committee adjusts or cancels their merit scholarship aid for the upcoming semester. Students have the right to appeal any decision adjusting their merit aid. Appeals must be filed within 2 weeks of notification that aid eligibility has been adjusted, and it must be made in writing to the Director of Financial Aid using the Financial Aid Appeal Form. Appeals are normally based on an unusual situation or condition that prevented you from achieving your minimum required GPA or required credit amount needed to retain your scholarship.  Appeals should not be based on your lack of knowledge of the scholarship requirements. 

If an appeal is granted, you will be placed on scholarship probation and you must sign a probation contract.  Students will be contacted by the Academic Advising Counselor to complete their probation contract.  If terms of the contract are not met the following semester, the scholarship may be terminated. Once you regain scholarship eligibility, this process starts over.  For example, if a student is placed on probation in Fall of 2012, then regains scholarship eligibility in Spring 2012, and fails their scholarship standards for a second time, the process repeats itself.  Students are only placed on scholarship suspension when they fail their scholarship standards for two consecutive semesters.  

Scholarship Extensions

Institutional scholarships and grant awards normally cover a maximum of 8 semesters of undergraduate study. On a funds available basis, scholarships may be extended for no more than 2 additional semesters. Students cannot request an extension until they have received their 8th semester of aid as a regular undergraduate student or their 6th semester as a transfer student.

All requests for extensions must be made in writing to the Director of Financial Aid by the start of the semester for which a student is asking for the extension.  The request should outline the reason(s) the student could not complete degree requirements within the 6 or 8 semesters required, should outline an academic plan to degree completion, and be accompanied by a letter from the student's academic advisor.