Scholarships are important to students because they provide a financial aid that is not based on the family’s income. While many students are eligible for financial aid, the financial aid is always based on the family’s income. Scholarships are awarded based on merit.
Can your scholarship be taken away?
Yes. Unfortunately, there are many reasons why a scholarship could be taken away. Most scholarship providers require you to perform at a certain standard. You not meeting this standard is the most common reason you could lose your funding.
Below are all the ways you could lose your scholarship, as well as what you can do after.
Lying On Your Application
For you to have been awarded the scholarship, you would have had to submit a resume. Hopefully, you did not lie on it. If your scholarship provider finds out that you did, your funding would be revoked.
Academics
You need to achieve a specific GPA to maintain your scholarship. The grade-point average would have been agreed upon before you enrolled in college. The average is set to make sure that you are performing to your highest standard.
You’re advised to regularly meet your counsellor/academic advisor to discuss your progress in classes.
Discipline
The scholarship provider wants to invest in your future. However, you may keep getting into trouble. If you’re irresponsible, you would lose your scholarship because you’d be a bad investment.
A lot of the time, your presence on social media would be monitored. Make sure your social media accounts are squeaky clean.
Switching Your Major
You may have gotten tired of your major, so you’re thinking of changing degrees. Unfortunately, this would cause you to lose your scholarship.
Here’s the deal:
Sticking with a major that you don’t like is never a good idea. If you realize you have a passion for another field, you should switch. Just keep in mind that you will have to look for another means of paying for classes.
Change Schools
Just like you would lose funding if you change your major, you would lose it if you change your school too. Most likely, your scholarship is being awarded by the university you’re currently in.
Misuse Of Funds
Most scholarship providers are very strict about how you use the money you receive. They may only allow you to use it on your housing, tuition, and books. Your scholarship would be revoked if you’ve been using the money for anything not specified in your terms and agreements.
If it isn’t clear what you can use the money for, speak to the awarding body. This would help avoid any unfortunate situations in the future.
Student Status
Just like the scholarship requires you to perform at a certain academic standard, you would be required to take a certain number of credits too. You would have to be a full-time student, which means you need to take at least 12 credits an hour.
Speak to your school to find out how many credits puts you in the full-time student category. This differs per university.
What Do You Do If You Lose a Scholarship?
Sadly, you may have lost your scholarship due to one of the above reasons. The first thing you should do is find out how much more of your tuition-fees has to be paid. Then, meet with your school’s financial aid staff. You’d learn of any funding means you could use to procure your remaining course fees.
It might be time for you to get a job and pay for college. Your scholarship would have likely paid a chunk of your tuition fees, so there could be a very little remaining left. If you work hard, it shouldn’t be hard to meet it.
Of course, there could be another scholarship or grant you could apply for. Maybe your government is offering a bursary or grant you’re eligible for? Do your research.
There are many ways you could lose a scholarship. To sum them up, they are:
- Not performing at the required academic standards
- Not being on your best behavior
- You lying on your resume
- Switching your major
- Changing universities
Regularly meet with your academic advisor to ensure everything is going according to plan. He would tell you if you’re doing anything risky that could breach your scholarship agreements. As mentioned, the most common way students lose funding is because they don’t meet the GPA that their awarding body has set.
