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The PROMISE FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions abour renewing your PROMISE Scholarship at WVU
 What are the requirements to keep my PROMISE Scholarship for next year?
Will Advanced Placement (AP) or prior college credit count toward my 30 credit hours?
How long will I be able to renew my PROMISE Scholarship?
What are the academic progress guidelines for other scholarships?
What are the academic progress guidelines for financial aid?
May I take a leave of absence from college without losing my PROMISE eligibility?
D/F Repeat Policy
What if I plan to take summer session classes?
PROMISE Scholarship Appeals Process
PROMISE Contact Information
What are the requirements to keep my PROMISE Scholarship for next year?
A PROMISE Scholarship student must complete a minimum of 30 credit hours in a twelve-month period and meet the institution’s academic progress requirements. For the first year a PROMISE award is received, the applicant may be eligible for renewal if he or she has earned at least a 2.75 cumulative GPA. For following years, a cumulative GPA of no less than 3.0 is required for the renewal of the PROMISE Scholarship.
We highly recommend you review the PROMISE Scholarship website for the current renewal requirements.
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Will Advanced Placement (AP) or prior college credit count toward my 30 credit hours and the grade point average (GPA) requirement for renewing Promise?
No. While any AP or prior college credit earned while in high school will count toward your total hours at WVU, it will not count toward the 30 hours you need to complete and the GPA you must obtain to maintain PROMISE.
Courses taken prior to the first semester you receive the PROMISE Scholarship will not count toward fulfilling the renewal requirements.
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How long will I be able to renew my PROMISE Scholarship?
An eligible undergraduate student seeking a baccalaureate degree may be eligible to receive a PROMISE Scholarship for each year of a four-year degree program. Once a student graduates, or is classified as a graduate or professional student by the Office of Admissions & Records, their PROMISE eligibility ends.
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What are the academic progress guidelines for other scholarships?
The guidelines vary depending on the scholarship you have received. If you have received a scholarship through the WVU Scholars program, you must complete 24 credit hours each academic year and obtain the following cumulative grade point averages to keep the scholarship:
- Bucklew – 3.2 first year/3.3 thereafter
- University Merit - 3.2 first year/3.3 thereafter
- Presidential – 3.0 first year/3.2 thereafter
- Mountaineer – 2.75 first year/3.00 thereafter
- GHA – 2.75 first year/3.00 thereafter
These scholarships fund four years of undergraduate education.
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What are the academic progress guidelines for financial aid?
Students must be eligible to continue in their degree program and must make satisfactory academic progress toward obtaining a degree. Academic progress is measured at the completion of each spring semester, and the new status is effective with the following fall semester. Requirements for part-time and full-time undergraduate students are:
- Successful completion of at least 70% of all hours attempted. Hours attempted includes courses with a grade of "W," "I," or "F" and all accepted transfer hours.
- Minimum cumulative GPA:
Freshman (1-28 hours) 1.6
Sophomore (29-58 hours) 1.9
Junior/Senior (59 hours or more) 2.0
*Some award programs have different renewal requirements.
Contact the Financial Aid Office if you need additional information.
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May I take a leave of absence from college without losing my PROMISE eligibility?
PROMISE scholarship students who have an approved medical or family emergency leave of absence from their college of attendance may continue their scholarship upon return without loss of eligibility or benefit so long as the student continues to meet all applicable eligibility standards. If a student needs to miss an upcoming term, an official Leave of Absence can be requested through consultation with the student's academic advisor. Please follow the details noted on the WVU Leave of Absence Policy website:
http://www.arc.wvu.edu/admissions/leave.html
We highly recommend you review the PROMISE Scholarship website for current leave of absence policies.
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D/F Repeat Policy
WVU has a D/F repeat policy for undergraduate students who have not received their initial baccalaureate degree. If you earn a D or F in a course at WVU taken before you reach a cumulative total of 60 hours attempted, you are eligible to D/F repeat that course. You must meet with your academic advisor sometime during the semester in which you are repeating the course and complete the appropriate forms. You must repeat the course at WVU or one of the regional campuses. You will have only one opportunity to improve your original grade. The new grade becomes the grade that counts, even if your performance is worse than when you were originally graded. The credit hours for the course repeated will count only once in calculating your hours attempted and hours passed. When you have D/F repeated a course, the following happens:
1. The original grade is disregarded for the purpose of determining your grade-point average, hours passed, and hours passed.
2. You will get credit hours for taking the course one time. If you D/F repeat a 3 credit hour course, you get 3 credit hours, not 6 credit hours.
3. The original grade is not deleted from your permanent record.
4. The second grade is entered on your transcript and marked repeat in the semester that you repeated the course.
5. You can exercise the D/F repeat policy at any time before you receive your initial baccalaureate degree. If you get a grade of F in a course for disciplinary reasons or for cheating, the grade is not eligible for change under the D/F repeat provisions. Such a failure is indicated on your permanent record by an *F and is calculated in your grade-point average.
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What if I plan to take Summer Session classes?
Classes taken during Summer Sessions can be counted toward your academic progress for PROMISE as a renewal student. However, PROMISE will not pay for summer coursework.
WVU offers a wide variety of courses during the summer. Visit www.wvu.edu/~summer/ for a complete listing of all courses available.
You may take summer courses at other institutions which transfer back to WVU in order to regain your PROMISE Scholarship. It is your responsibility to notify the Scholarship Office once you can view those grades in STAR so that they may re-evaluate your PROMISE status.
Grades from courses taken at colleges or universities that are not West Virginia public institutions will not be calculated in your cumulative GPA. This includes grades from courses taken at West Virginia private institutions.
If you plan to take courses at another university or college, you must complete the Transient Application Form and obtain permission from your academic advisor.
For complete instructions on taking courses at another university, information about the Transfer Equivalency System, and a copy of the Transient Application Form, visit the WVU web site at www.arc.wvu.edu/admissions/transient.html
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What is the PROMISE Scholarship Appeals Process?
A student granted an initial PROMISE Scholarship may appeal a non-renewal of the award. Any such appeal must be filed within fifteen (15) days of notification to the student that he or she is not eligible for renewal of the award. The appeal is to be filed with the WVU Undergraduate Scholarship Office. Only under extremely extenuating circumstances will an appeal be approved.
If the appeal of the non-renewal is denied by WVU, the student may appeal that decision to the Executive Director at the PROMISE Board. The appeal must be filed within fifteen (15) days of notification to the student of denial of the WVU appeal. The appeal must be in writing and detail, with specificity, the grounds for the appeal. The Executive Director may require additional evidence or materials be submitted. If the Executive Director denies the appeal the reasons for the denial shall be communicated in writing to the applicant with an explanation of the reason for the denial.
If a student with a PROMISE Scholarship is not eligible for renewal of the award because of failure to maintain academic progress they may not utilize the procedure set out herein to challenge any grade assigned them. Challenges to grades must be brought under established institutional procedures for grade appeals. The process set out above may only be utilized to challenge the application of the eligibility requirements to the grade or grades assigned. If a student is successful on a grade appeal, and the changing of the grade makes them eligible for renewal, they may petition the PROMISE Board for a renewal of the award retroactively.
We highly recommend you review the PROMISE Scholarship website for current appeals process policies.
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PROMISE Contact Information
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