Scholarship Policies

Notes and Disclaimers: 

• New students are students who enter Boise State after completing coursework at a regionally accredited high school, a GED, or a homeschool program. Students with concurrent college credit during high school are considered new (first-year students) for scholarship consideration.
• Transfer students are students who have earned 14 or more semester credits post-high school.
• All Boise State scholarships require continuous enrollment at Boise State. The criteria for credit completion, GPA, and award amounts of each scholarship are detailed in the scholarship award message listed on the award letter and Student Center.
• Some scholarships for new students require enrollment at Boise State immediately following the completion of high school or its equivalent. Students who delay enrollment at Boise State for a semester or more will not forfeit their award(s).
• Unweighted high school GPA is used for all incoming applicants from regionally accredited high schools for both Boise State admission and scholarship awards. Students with a homeschool curriculum or GED will be reviewed holistically by the Scholarship Committee. All admissions materials (test scores, personal statement, and reference letters) will be reviewed. All required admission and scholarship materials for new students must be received by Boise State Admissions by the indicated Application and Scholarship Priority Deadlines. Scholarship award notifications will arrive within three weeks of a student’s admission to Boise State University.       
  
• Transfer credits are evaluated based on a semester hour system. All quarter credits are converted to a semester equivalent during the evaluation process.
• Transfer credits are evaluated based on the number of attempted and completed credits by the scholarship deadline, not the number of credits accepted by the university.
• Criteria and award amounts for Boise State scholarships are subject to change each academic year

Boise State allows the student to receive institutional funds in conjunction with other outside funds up to the student’s Cost of Attendance (COA).

All Boise State students are provided a COA. The COA is an average calculation of expenses for the student’s tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board, transportation, and personal expenses for the period of enrollment.

Should a student exceed their COA we will start by reducing student loans and may ultimately need to reduce or cancel institutional scholarships. At the time of an adjustment, students will be given an opportunity to request an increase to their COA by completing a budget increase form found on the financial aid website under Printable Forms. 

Students receiving renewable scholarships are evaluated at the end of each spring semester (summer courses and repeated credits are not evaluated as part of the credit completion and/or GPA requirements) to determine if they are eligible for continuation of the scholarship into the next academic year. Renewal criteria can be found in the Student Center under Accept/Decline Financial Aid.

If the student does not meet the minimum requirements by the end of the spring semester, the scholarship will not be offered and students will be notified by email. This email will include the option to appeal. Most successful appeals document extenuating circumstances beyond the students’ control which significantly impacted the students’ academic record. Students will be asked to file a FAFSA.

Most Boise State scholarships require undergraduate students to be enrolled in at least 12 credits and 9 credits for graduate students each term of the award.

Beginning on the 11th day of each semester, the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office will check the number of credits in which scholarship recipients are enrolled. If a student has dropped enrollment below the credit requirement, the scholarship will be canceled for the term.

Most Boise State scholarships have criteria you must meet in order to receive/maintain the scholarship. To find these criteria, navigate to the Accept/Decline Financial Aid page on your Student Center. The name of the scholarship is a link to an award message, which discusses the requirements. Should you fail to meet the criteria your scholarship may be canceled prior to disbursement.

If a student completely withdraws from Boise State prior to the 10th day of the semester, any Boise State scholarships will be canceled from the student’s account. If the student received a refund that included the scholarships, the student will be required to pay that refund back to Boise State.

If the student received a scholarship from an outside entity, we will notify the outside entity that the student has withdrawn from the university. If the outside entity would like to have their scholarship money back, they will need to work directly with the student in that process.

If a student completely withdraws from Boise State after the 10th day of the semester, the student can still receive their scholarship to help cover any of the charges incurred for their time here at Boise State. However, if the student’s fees are refunded or waived through a fee appeal or academic appeal the scholarship will be canceled and the student will not be allowed a refund from the scholarship funds. If this results in a balance owing to Boise State, the student is required to pay that money back to the University.

If a student going on education abroad is currently receiving a scholarship from Boise State, the Scholarship Committee at Boise State will evaluate if the scholarship can be used towards their education abroad or if a deferment is required while they are away from Boise State campus.

Nonresident Scholarships such as the Gem, WUE, Treasure, Foothills, Ridgeline, and Summit Scholarships can only be applied towards the nonresident fees at Boise State. These are not cash awards. Boise State will automatically defer a nonresident scholarship for a student studying abroad. Students are required to maintain their cumulative GPA and eligible major while they are abroad.

The majority of Boise State scholarships are offered for one year and require full time enrollment (12 credits for undergraduate students; 9 credits for graduate students) each semester the award is granted. Scholarships are typically split evenly between fall and spring semesters. These splits are nonnegotiable and non-enrollment or enrollment in less than full time in either semester will result in the forfeiture of that portion of your award. The award messages attached to your scholarship will inform you of additional/different requirements, if any.

Student athletes who have been offered a scholarship should discuss the award with their coach to determine whether or not the student athlete can accept the award. Per NCAA regulations, student athletes are limited in the amount of institutional aid they can receive. Institutional aid includes both athletic scholarships AND institutional academic scholarships.

All automatic scholarships offered must be accepted by May 1^st. If an offer is not accepted by this deadline the award will be canceled. To accept the award, go to myBoiseState and log in, then select the Financial Aid tile, select the appropriate Aid Year, scroll to the bottom and click “Accept/Decline Awards.” Follow the instructions listed.

Academic Scholarships offered via the Boise State Scholarship Application must be accepted within 30 of the offer. Scholarship offers not accepted within 30 days of the offer may be reassigned to another student.

Non-degree seeking students are not considered for scholarships at Boise State. If a student switches from non-degree to degree seeking, after the scholarship deadline, we ask they contact the Scholarships Office to evaluate their situation.

Graduate students must be enrolled in at least nine (9) graduate-level credits each semester. Undergraduate credits can be included if the course fulfills the graduate degree requirements. Such undergraduate courses are indicated with a “G” designation. Please note that repeated courses will not count toward meeting minimum credit requirements.

Renewal requirements for graduate students include maintaining a 3.0 cumulative GPA and the successful completion of 18 credits per academic year. Departments may also require recipients to remain in a specified major.

Boise State University will defer a current student’s scholarship(s) if a student’s attendance at Boise State is interrupted for medical reasons, military deployment, church service, or other selected reasons, provided that a student meets certain criteria. For a student’s scholarship(s) to be deferred, the student must attend at least one full-time semester prior to their departure and meet the minimum criteria for renewal of their scholarship(s) during the semester(s) they attend prior to leaving. Enrollment at another College or University during the deferment period will result in an automatic cancellation of the scholarship.

To request a deferral, a student should submit an email to scholarships@boisestate.edu, prior to leaving Boise State. Our general policy is that scholarships can be held for up to two academic years and approval is dependent on the availability of remaining scholarship funds. 

Students seeking to defer their admission can do so by submitting the Boise State Admission deferment request form. If eligible, deferring allows you to delay your admission to a later starting semester than the one you were originally admitted for.

Due to limited funding, scholarships are nondeferrable. Unlike your admission, scholarships cannot be deferred to a new semester. Any scholarships you were awarded will be canceled upon the submission and review of the Boise State deferment form. You will then be re-evaluated for scholarships based on your new semester’s scholarship criteria, and the academic information we have on file for you by the scholarship deadline. Please note, scholarship criteria is updated for the upcoming academic year each summer.

The Merit-Based Gem, Dean’s Gem, and Western Regional Graduate Program scholarships cannot be deferred. Students who defer (delay) enrollment, are no longer eligible for the scholarship awarded.

The WUE scholarship discounts tuition so a nonresident student pays 150% of the resident tuition rate. 

If you were admitted Spring 2022 or earlier, please see the graph here. 

If you were admitted as of Fall 2022,  please see the graph here.

Why are the calculations different?

The difference between the calculation is the removal of the mandatory fees from the calculation of 150% of resident tuition.  All undergraduate students pay the same amount of mandatory fees regardless of their residency status; therefore, the calculation was updated to only include tuition.

Why do students have a different WUE amount based on their start term?

Boise State’s WUE scholarship is already highly competitive for a limited number of awards.  If we were to move all students to the new calculation, the number of new scholarship offers would be significantly reduced.  

Guaranteed (admission) scholarship decisions are made based on the data available by the scholarship deadline. Should a student’s residency change after the scholarship has disbursed, the award will not be replaced with a resident award. We will automatically review residency changes and consider students for resident awards IF the residency changes prior to the scholarship disbursement. 

If a payment made to a student account is returned by the bank for any reason, the student is responsible for paying Boise State University the original amount of the returned payment plus a returned payment fee of $25.00. Multiple returned payments and/or failure to comply with the terms of any payment plan or agreement the student signs with Boise State University may result in the cancellation of the student’s ability to make online payments and suspension of eligibility to register for future classes at Boise State University.