The Awarding Process at Georgia Tech
The Award Process at Georgia Tech
At the time of initial review, the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid (OSFA) evaluates your eligibility based on general and specific program requirements and offers a financial aid package designed to best meet your needs. The OSFA considers you for the most beneficial aid, such as grants, scholarships, and subsidized loans, before offering other types of aid, such as employment and unsubsidized loans. For programs with limited funding, applications received by the priority date are ranked in order of need and awarded until funds are depleted.
Georgia HOPE/Zell Miller Scholarship
In order to receive the HOPE scholarship, students must meet two separate and distinct criteria.
The first criterion is to be confirmed as academically eligible by the Georgia Student Finance Commission upon graduation from an accredited Georgia high school.
The second qualification for receiving HOPE is the residency requirement. Recipients must either be U.S. citizens or have been permanent residents for twelve months prior to the first day of the term in order to receive HOPE as freshmen. Additionally, these students must be classified by Georgia Tech as having been Georgia residents for one year at the time of high school graduation.
Students who attend an unaccredited Georgia high school or are home schooled must attempt thirty semester hours and achieve at least a 3.0 GPA before being eligible to apply for the HOPE scholarship.
Visit www.finaid.gatech.edu/hope for more information.
Financial Aid Award Timeline
March 1: Completed financial aid application is on file.
Beginning April 1: Financial aid award letters are available to students via BuzzPort.
May 1: Admission deposit is required.
Late applications will result in late financial aid award letters.
www.finaid.gatech.edu
Request for Review of Award
Eligibility for federal and institutional financial aid is based primarily on reported family income during the calendar year prior to the academic year for which the student applied for aid. Prior calendar year income is requested because the federal government believes it is a good predictor of current year income, and it is verifiable.
If financial circumstances have changed so dramatically that reported prior year income is not a good indicator of current year income, the family may request that their situation be re-evaluated. Typical examples of these changes include:
- loss of employment (parent or student)
- significant unreimbursed medical expenses
- death of a parent/spouse
- divorce
A request to consider extraordinary circumstances must be made in writing to the OSFA and must include as many details about the changed circumstances as pos¬sible. The request should report the dollar value(s) of the actual changes versus the original reported amounts. Also, relevant documentation of these changes should be included.
The OSFA will not review an aid award to determine if Georgia Tech will increase the offer to match the financial aid awards of other institutions.