Outside Scholarships Policy

PURPOSE

UT Austin processes and disburses scholarships awarded by external organizations to ensure compliance with federal regulations. This requires receiving payment and information directly from donors to accurately determine students’ financial aid eligibility.

• How UT Austin Receives Outside Scholarships
  Many scholarships are awarded by organizations outside of UT Austin. Each scholarship has its own specific requirements, deadlines and application procedures set by the awarding entity. Typically, scholarship donors send payments directly to the University, either by mail or through ACH transfer, for processing and disbursement on behalf of the student.
• Why UT Austin Needs Information From Outside Donors
  Federal regulations require UT Austin to consider all financial resources awarded to a student when determining their eligibility for financial aid. The University must receive information or checks from outside donors to ensure compliance with these regulations.
• Submit Scholarship Checks Early
  Due to regulations and compliance, scholarship checks may affect a student’s existing financial aid based on when the check is received. Sending scholarship funds as early as possible helps prevent financial aid displacement after financial aid disbursement. Students may experience adjustments to their aid if a scholarship is awarded after financial aid has already been disbursed-typically 10 days before the semester begins.

METHOD

Receipt of Outside Scholarship Checks Process

Scholarship funds may be delivered to UT Austin via one of the following methods:

• ACH process (RECOMMENDED)
  • Business Services provides account information and payment instructions to donors so that funds can be sent electronically.
  • Donors send email confirmation to EM-Scholarships@austin.utexas.edu once the funds have been sent to the University. Email includes the following information:
    • Student’s full name and UT EID.
    • Amount of the scholarship and semester to which the funds apply.
    • Enrollment requirements for student to receive funds (if any).

• Paper check
  • Made payable to The University of Texas at Austin or co-payable to the student and UT Austin, including student’s full name and EID. You can bring this check to Texas One Stop (MAI 1 – Ground floor of UT Tower) or it can be mailed to:
    The University of Texas at Austin
    Attn: EMBS
    1616 Guadalupe, Mail Stop E3700
    Austin, TX 78701

POLICIES

Utilization Policies and Deadlines

• Semester Funding: Scholarship awards will be applied according to the instructions provided by the donor on the check or accompanying letter. For example, if a donor sends a check for $500 designated for the fall semester, it will be applied as specified. If there are no instructions or if the instructions are unclear, checks over $1,000 will be divided evenly between the fall and spring semesters.
• Release of Funds: Funds will be released no earlier than 10 days before the start of the applicable semester.
• Application of Funds: When a scholarship is applied to a student’s University account, it covers all educational expenses such as tuition, housing, and other charges, as required by many outside donors. UT Austin applies scholarship funds towards a student’s account balance at the University but cannot allocate them to specific bills.
• Posting Limitations: UT Austin cannot apply scholarships for previous academic years. To fund the previous fall or spring semester, checks must be received by July 1. For ACH transfers, the deadline is August 1.
• Fiscal Year Deadline for SS1 (internal scholarships): Financial and Administrative Services (FAS) sets an annual deadline for scholarship payments, typically the second-to-last Friday in August. The exact date is announced each summer. Any payment documents (SS1s) that are not final approved and in a ‘ready to pay’ status (i.e., not held) by this deadline, with a payment date of August 31 or earlier, will be canceled and will need to be recreated for the next fiscal year. The new fiscal year will be available for SS1 creation in the Financial Resources Management System (FRMS) at this time.

Cost of Attendance

The University of Texas at Austin must include outside scholarships in a student’s financial aid package and other aid may be adjusted to account for these external resources. Federal and state requirements do not allow a student’s financial aid to exceed the Cost of Attendance (COA) or in some cases, financial need. Students who receive scholarships that bring their aid package (including all institutional, state, federal and private sources) above their COA or financial need may have certain types of financial aid (including grants and scholarships) reduced or canceled. In most cases, loans will be reduced before any other type of aid.

Example

This is Bevo’s initial financial aid package for the fall semester:

Then, Bevo receives a $4,000 scholarship from the Texas Foundation. Since the Foundation did not provide instructions about how to release the funds, UT Austin will give Bevo $2,000 in the fall and the remaining $2,000 in the spring. Since Bevo is already awarded up to their COA, their current aid package must be adjusted to make room for this additional $2,000.

This is Bevo’s adjusted fall financial aid package:

A student’s financial aid package can exceed their Cost of Attendance if the only items in the aid package are the Pell Grant, UT departmental or athletic scholarships, outside scholarships, and laptop and textbook credits.

Release of Funds

Outside scholarship disbursements are posted via the Financial Resource Management System (FRMS). Receipt, processing and management of outside scholarships is handled by Enrollment Management Business Services (EMBS).

Funds will be released to students via their student account at The University of Texas at Austin. If the student has declined the Title IV authorization form, students will receive the funds directly and then must make payment toward institutional charges.

If the scholarship recipient does not have any University charges, they will receive a refund for the overage either via direct deposit (recommended) or paper check, depending upon what information the student has provided at the time of refund.

Returning Disbursed Scholarship Funds

If UT Austin is required to return scholarship funds after they have been disbursed — either at the donor’s request or due to institutional policy — a bill for the returned amount will be generated and added to the student’s account. The scholarship recipient must pay this new bill before the University can officially process the return to the donor.

Enrollment Requirements

Unless otherwise specified by the donor, scholarship funds will release if the student is enrolled in at least one class at UT Austin.

When the donor requires full-time enrollment, UT Austin will use the University definition of full-time enrollment, which may include reduced enrollment in the graduating semester or for other approved reasons.

To request an exception to a donor’s full-time requirement, the student may ask their donor to send an approval to em-scholarships@austin.utexas.edu. The donor must submit the approval by the end of the semester. If no approval has been submitted, then the University will return the funds back to the donor.

UT Austin is unable to specify the number of hours required to receive the scholarship.

Non-Standard Registration

If the student is not enrolled in residence at UT Austin and is not taking coursework, scholarship funds will be returned to the donor. If the student is enrolled at two institutions at the same time and their scholarship requires full-time enrollment, they must submit an approved Consortium Agreement for financial aid eligibility to be based on the total hours of enrollment at both schools.

GPA Requirements

UT Austin is unable to set or enforce a minimum GPA or confirm specific coursework before a student’s scholarship may disburse. In these cases, the donor should request a transcript, grade report, etc. directly from the student before sending funds to UT Austin.

Requesting a W-9

If a donor is requesting a W-9 before agreeing to send funding, they must email em-scholarships@austin.utexas.edu with the name of the scholarship and the student’s EID.