Appealing a Scholarship Status

University Appeals Committee will review the following criteria when making decisions regarding your scholarship appeal:

• General eligibility requirements for the scholarship being requested and stipulations to maintain scholarship
• Funding availability for the particular scholarship you are appealing
• Student’s academic record (includes, but is not limited to, records prior to enrollment at USM, academic history while attending USM, and other academic records as needed)
  Student’s financial background through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
• Documentation regarding and supporting the student’s extenuating circumstance (includes, but is not limited to, personal injury or illness, death in the immediate family, medical illness, and/or letter of support from high school counselor/college academic advisor explaining extenuating circumstance)
• Letter provided by the student explaining the student’s circumstance and why an exception is being requested
• The University Scholarship Appeals Committee will review a student's FAFSA completion status and Expected Family Contribution (EFC) for all appeals submitted.  It is highly recommended to have a FAFSA on file prior to appealing.

Failure to provide any documentation for review will result in an automatic denial with no further consideration. 

The scholarships covered through this scholarship appeal process are University undergraduate admission-based scholarships, therefore graduate students are not eligible under any circumstance to receive funding from the scholarships listed on this page.  

These are admission-based scholarships; therefore, students who are currently enrolled cannot receive a new award or have awards upgraded to newer awards.

All Office of Undergraduate Scholarships are allocated for fall/spring semesters only as stated on our website and in the scholarship stipulations. Funds for these awards cannot be allocated for summer semesters for any reason.

Scholarships are audited and reported as financial transactions; therefore, extensions are not granted if a student has already received all of their allotted funding.  

• Incoming students must be admitted to The University of Southern Mississippi before an appeal will be reviewed.

• The student must meet all initial GPA, credit hours, and test score requirements for the scholarship(s) being requested. Please, make sure all records are updated with the Office of Admissions before filing a scholarship appeal. 

• The student seeking the appeal must be the individual submitting the appeal. Parents and/or advisors should not complete the appeal form on behalf of their student.

• Decisions will be made based on documentation submitted at the time of an appeal.

Missing a deadline is not an extenuating circumstance; therefore, if a student misses both the scholarship deadline and appeal deadline the student will not be able to be considered for the award in question. 

Reminder: Students cannot appeal for Luckyday Citizenship Foundation Scholarship and/or Honors College Achievement Scholarships. Recipients for these scholarship programs are determined through a competitive review process by external departments, and decisions made during the competitive review process are final.

Current students must be enrolled in the amount of hours outlined by their scholarship stipulation agreement before an appeal will be reviewed.

The student seeking the appeal must be the individual submitting the appeal. Parents and/or advisors should not complete the appeal form on behalf of their student.

Decisions will be made based on documentation submitted at the time of an appeal.

Academic performance of students receiving undergraduate scholarships is monitored each fall and spring semester. Recipients must comply with various stipulations in order to continue receiving these funds. Stipulations include, but are not limited to:

• Enrollment in required credit hours
• USM Grade Point Average
• Number of semesters enrolled at USM
• Other stipulations outlined during the initial awarding process