Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 9, September 27, 2024
A. To be
eligible for a SC HOPE Scholarship, the student must:
1. Be a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent
resident that meets the definition of an eligible non-citizen under State
residency statutes at the time of high school graduation, whose lawful presence
in the US has been verified at the time of enrollment at the
institution;
2. Be classified by
the awarding institution as a South Carolina resident for in-state purposes at
the time of high school graduation and at the time of enrollment at the
institution, as set forth by Section
59-112-10
and be either a member of a class graduating from a high school located in this
State, a home school student who has successfully completed a high school home
school program in this State in the manner required by law, or a student
graduating from a preparatory high school outside this State, while a dependent
of a parent or guardian who is a legal resident of this State and has custody
of the dependent according to State Statute, Section
59-149-50A.
A student must be a legal permanent resident of the United States before being
considered to be a South Carolina resident;
3. Earn a cumulative 3.0 grade point average
(GPA) based on the South Carolina Uniform Grading Policy (UGP) upon high school
graduation. No other grading policy will be allowed to qualify for the SC HOPE
Scholarship. Grade point averages must be reported to two decimal places
(minimum) and may not be rounded. For example, a student who earns a 2.99 GPA
is not eligible. A student who earns a 3.00 GPA or above is eligible.
Institutions shall use the final cumulative GPA as reported by the high school
on the official high school transcript. The SC UGP GPA and class rank (if
school/association officially ranks as a policy) must be printed on an official
final end of year high school transcript, which must also include a uniform
date of calculation as determined by the Commission on Higher Education. The
graduation date must also be printed on the final end of senior year high
school transcript, and no grades earned after the date of the graduating high
school class for the graduation year. If a South Carolina resident student is
graduating from an out of state high school, it is the responsibility of the
out of state student's school counselor to convert the students final high
school GPA and class ranking to an eligible final high school GPA based on the
S.C. Uniform Grading Policy. The converted final high school GPA and class
ranking (if applicable) must be provided to the eligible S.C. Institution
before a student can be awarded. A student who graduates high school with a
General Educational Development (GED) Diploma is not eligible to receive the SC
HOPE Scholarship;
4. Be admitted,
enrolled full-time, and classified as a degree-seeking undergraduate student in
an eligible institution in South Carolina;
5. Certify that he/she has never been
adjudicated delinquent, convicted, or pled guilty or nolo
contendere to any felonies and/or any second or subsequent
alcohol/drug related misdemeanor offenses under the laws of this or any other
state or under the laws of the United States by submitting a signed affidavit
each academic year to the institution testifying to the fact. However, a high
school or college student who has been adjudicated delinquent, convicted, or
pled guilty or nolo contendere of a second alcohol or other
drug related misdemeanor offense is ineligible for the next academic year of
enrollment at an eligible institution after the date of the adjudication,
conviction or plea. If the adjudication, conviction, or plea occurs during the
academic year after the student has already submitted a signed affidavit to the
institution, the student is still eligible for the Scholarship for the
remainder of the academic year. However, the student will not be eligible to
receive the LIFE Scholarship the following fall, spring, and summer terms (or
their equivalent), even if all other eligibility requirements have been met. If
a student completes a pretrial intervention program and has his/her record
expunged, the conviction will not affect Scholarship eligibility;
6. For a home school graduate to be eligible
for the SC HOPE Scholarship, the student must be a member of an approved South
Carolina homeschool program as defined in the State Statute (Sections
59-65-40,
45, and 47) that provides a GPA on an official transcript upon high school
graduation based on the Uniform Grading Policy. No other grading policy will be
allowed to qualify for the SC HOPE Scholarship. Grade point averages must be
reported to two decimal places (minimum) and may not be rounded; and
7. In order to meet the GPA requirement, a
student who attended an out-of-state preparatory high school or graduated from
a SC high school prior to the full implementation of the Uniform Grading Policy
must have their grades converted to the SC UGP. This conversion is the
responsibility of the out of state preparatory high school or SC high school.
These students must meet all other eligibility criteria, including SC residency
requirements.
B. Any
credit hours attempted or earned before high school graduation, hours exempted
by examination, International Baccalaureate (IB) or Advanced Placement (AP)
credit hours do not count against the terms of eligibility.
C. Students who complete their high school
graduation requirements prior to the official graduation date reported on the
final high school transcript may be eligible to receive the SC HOPE Scholarship
pending the approval of the Commission on Higher Education (CHE). The
institutional representative must complete and submit an Early Graduation
Application Form and all appropriate documentation as deemed necessary by CHE
for each student by the established deadline. The student must request and
submit a letter from the high school principal verifying that he/she has met
all graduation requirements along with an official high school
transcript.
D. Service members of
the United States Armed Forces will not be penalized for any credit hours
earned while on active duty. The credit hours earned will not count against the
terms of eligibility.
E. Early
graduates who enroll mid-year and are classified as degree-seeking will
officially begin their initial college enrollment.
F. SC HOPE Scholarship funds may not be
applied to the costs of continuing education or remedial/developmental courses.
Twelve credit hours of the course load must be nonremedial/developmental and
non-continuing education courses in order to receive SC HOPE Scholarship
funds.
G. Students receiving a SC
HOPE Scholarship are not eligible for a LIFE Scholarship, Palmetto Fellows
Scholarship or Lottery Tuition Assistance.
H. Students who meet all eligibility
requirements for the SC HOPE Scholarship are eligible to receive Scholarship
funds for the freshman year of attendance only.
I. All documents required for determining SC
HOPE Scholarship eligibility must be submitted to the institution by their
established deadline(s). Students must submit official transcripts from all
previous and current institutions, which provide evidence to determine initial
college enrollment.
J. All eligible
independent and public institutions that participate in the program must verify
the lawful presence of any student who receives a SC HOPE Scholarship prior to
awarding the Scholarship to the student. When verifying the lawful presence of
an individual, institutional personnel shall not attempt to independently
verify the immigration status of any alien, but shall verify any alien's
immigration status with the federal government pursuant to
8
USC Section
1373(c).
