Up to $5,500 is available to qualified students to offset tuition and fee charges for the academic year. It is funded by West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and is awarded to WV high-school seniors on the basis of their high school academic records and test scores.
Criteria to Apply
High school students who have at least a 3.0 who are WV residents (there is an exception for Armed Services members/dependents) must submit a WV PROMISE Application and file a FAFSA by March 1st prior to the academic year enrolling in Marshall. Certain core course requirements must be met. In addition, minimum scores must be met by the July test date for the ACT or the June test date for the SAT of the application year.
Criteria for Grant to Pay
Students receiving the Promise Scholarship must enroll full-time and have the required minimum GPA. Scholarship is to only pay for tuition and mandatory fees.
Renewal Criteria
Please review the PROMISE Scholarship website for the full renewal criteria. You must complete and earn 30 credit hours while maintaining a 2.75 GPA at the completion of the Freshman year and a 3.0 GPA after Sophomore and Junior years. You can receive no more than eight semesters for a Bachelor’s degree or four semesters for an Associates. Students have six years from the date of the awarded to use their Promise award. Eligibility for renewal is examined at the end of a year of scholarship utilization, based on first-time semester enrollment. A student who does not meet the renewal criteria for the PROMISE Scholarship at the end of the spring semester may make a PROMISE Scholarship Reinstatement Request if the deficiency can be remediated during the summer or courses were taken at another institution. Students who do not meet the renewal criteria by the start of the fall semester lose future eligibility for institutional scholarships.
Appeal Loss of Grant
If you did not have your Promise Grant renewed, there are a few options to appeal.
- GPA Appeal – To request review of academic records, which include your GPA and completion of 30 credit hours, at the conclusion of the academic year, including summer, for PROMISE Scholarship renewal in the current academic year, complete the PROMISE Scholarship Reinstatement Request (form to be available in late Spring).
- Promise Scholarship Credit Hour Requirement Appeal – Degree Pursuant Coursework appeal for those who can be full time in each term during the academic year but won’t be able to achieve the 30-credit hour requirement for renewal purposes. If approved, they are required to complete the number of degree pursuant courses available to them in the academic year. For example, if they have 25 credits available to take, they must complete all 25 to qualify. This will need rechecked at the end of the spring semester. If they fail or drop a course, the waiver would be revoked.
- Appeal to Waive the Full-Time Enrollment Requirement for State Aid – Full-time waiver enrollment appeal for state aid programs (including Promise) where students cannot be full-time in the term due to not having available degree pursuant coursework. If approved for one semester, they would need to complete the requirements for a one semester award in the academic year, which is 15 credits between fall, spring, and summer in the academic year. If they were part-time and approved for a waiver in both terms, the credit hour requirement would be waived and they wouldn’t need the 15.
