Concurrently enrolled high school students are not eligible to participate in the program while enrolled in high school. Once students have completed high school, they are eligible for participation in the program.

Each college and university campus in Oklahoma has a designated Academic Scholars Program coordinator. A roster of incoming freshman Academic Scholars is sent to each coordinator, and the coordinator is responsible for forwarding this information to other offices on campus. High schools are not notified of award recipients except by request.

At the beginning of the fall semester, the State Regents office will forward a certification roster to the program coordinator on each campus. The coordinator will provide the cumulative grade point average, number of hours earned in the previous academic year, and number of hours enrolled for the fall semester for each student and return the roster to the State Regents for payment purposes. At the beginning of the spring semester, the coordinators will be asked to provide only the number of hours enrolled for each student.

Once you have been certified for payment, your Academic Scholars award will be mailed to the financial aid office of the institution you are attending. Fall payment is usually distributed in September/October and spring payment in February/March. Some colleges credit the accounts of students who are in good standing prior to disbursement from the State Regents office. Procedures for distribution of any refund due to you are established by the college.

Grade point average: A 3.25 cumulative or graduation retention grade point average is required to remain eligible for payment of your award. The program coordinator reports your cumulative grade point average to the State Regents office once a year prior to the fall semester.

Earned credit hours: You are required to maintain full-time enrollment (12 credit hours) in a single institution for a total of 24 semester credit hours earned for the academic year. If you are paid for a summer term, you are required to earn 30 credit hours for the academic year for part-time enrollment (6-11 credit hours) and 36 credit hours for the academic year for full-time enrollment (12 or more credit hours). The program coordinator will report the number of credit hours earned once a year prior to the fall semester.

Summer payment is optional. Summer scholarship awards are not automatically distributed by the State Regents office. A separate summer application is required, which may be obtained online, from the campus coordinator or the State Regents office. You must have earned 24 credit hours in the previous fall and spring semesters to be eligible. Awards made for the summer term will count as one-half of a semester used for part-time enrollment (6-11 credit hours) and as a semester used for full-time enrollment (12 or more credit hours) in the program. The summer payment will be in the amount of one-half of a semester award for part-time enrollment and a full semester award for full-time enrollment.

You must accept your Academic Scholars scholarship at an Oklahoma college or university as a first-time student the fall semester immediately following your high school graduation date.

Yes. Automatic qualifiers may transfer to another public or private Oklahoma college or university at any time. Please notify the State Regents office as early as possible of your intention to transfer. Institutional Nominees are subject to restrictions and will need to consult the program rules for transfer requirements. The institution will not notify the State Regents office.

No. Any semester spent at an out-of-state institution will count against the eight semesters available on your scholarship.

GPA deficiency after the fall semester: If your cumulative grade point average falls below 3.25 at the end of the fall semester, you will still be eligible to receive your scholarship award for the spring semester, as long as you are enrolled full time. You must raise your cumulative grade point average to 3.25 by the end of the following spring or summer term in order to be eligible for payment the next fall semester.

GPA deficiency prior to the fall semester: If your grade point average falls below 3.25 after the summer term and prior to the fall semester, you will be ineligible for a fall semester award. If your GPA is raised to 3.25 by the end of the fall semester, you will be eligible for reinstatement to the program for the next spring semester. Because institutions report your cumulative grade point average only in the fall, it will be your responsibility to provide the State Regents office with a transcript at the end of the fall term in order to be reinstated.

Credit hour deficiency prior to the fall semester: If you do not earn 24 semester credit hours during the academic year, including the summer term, you will be ineligible for your fall scholarship award. If you have been paid for a summer term and fail to earn 30 semester credit hours for part-time enrollment (6-11 credit hours) or fail to earn 36 semester credit hours for full-time enrollment (12+ credit hours) during the previous academic year, you will be ineligible for your fall scholarship award. In addition to full-time enrollment in the fall semester (without payment), you will be required to earn the number of hours that you were lacking in the previous year in order to be reinstated the following spring semester.

Failure to remedy the credit hour deficiency prior to the spring semester: If you do not earn 24 semester credit hours during the academic year, including the summer term, and fail to remedy the credit hour deficiency in the following fall semester (see above), you will be ineligible for spring payment. To be reinstated for a fall award the next academic year, you are required to earn 12 credit hours in the spring semester (without payment) in addition to the number of hours you were lacking in the previous year. State Regents policy states that a student has one year to remedy any credit hour deficiency.

NOTE: Any semester during which you are deficient in cumulative grade point average or credit hours earned (and thus ineligible to receive your scholarship) will be counted against the eight semesters available in the program.

State Regents policy states that a student has one academic year to remedy any grade point average or credit hour deficiency. Failure to do so will result in permanent removal from the program.

Yes. Students may request a leave of absence from the Academic Scholars Program for the following reasons: sudden illness as documented by a physician, death in the family, religious mission, employment, study abroad or CO-OP program participation. You may also take no more than a one-year leave of absence between completion of undergraduate work and enrollment in a graduate or professional program. Normally, a student on leave of absence is not enrolled in any courses.

You should notify the State Regents office in writing as early as possible of your intention to take a leave of absence. In the event of extenuating circumstances, such as illness, you may wish to request a leave of absence after the semester has begun.

Be aware, however, that while you will not be required to earn full-time enrollment for the semester during which you are on leave, if you remain enrolled in any classes, your grades earned for that semester will be reflected in your cumulative grade point average and will be considered for annual renewal purposes. If you are granted a leave of absence during the semester and you have already received your award, it will count against the eight semesters allotted for the program.

Yes. Students who elect to study abroad should notify the State Regents office in writing as early as possible. Your award may be disbursed as follows:

Enrollment through your home institution: You may be paid along with all other students at the beginning of the semester as long as the program coordinator is able to certify your full-time enrollment in a study abroad program. The semester will count against the eight available semesters.

Enrollment through an institution outside of Oklahoma: If your enrollment cannot be verified by your home institution because you are enrolled through a college or university outside of Oklahoma, your scholarship will be paid when the hours earned from the study abroad program have been transferred to your home institution and posted to your transcript. Full-time enrollment must be reflected on your transcript. The semester will count against the eight available semesters. Study abroad without scholarship: If you do not want to receive an award for study abroad, request a leave of absence from the program from the State Regents office. The semester will not count against the eight available semesters.

Please direct any further questions to the program coordinator on your campus or to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education at 405.225.9131 or lmcmurtrey@osrhe.edu

Any special or unusual requests must be submitted in writing to:

Academic Scholars Program
Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education
PO Box 108850
Oklahoma City, OK 73101-8850