The current, looming Weber State University financial aid changes have been under construction since 2016. The proposal as of now is to change the financial aid policy and redistribute the funds that students would typically receive as a refund from university scholarships.
In turn, the funds from no longer extending refunds would go toward “guaranteed” four-year academic scholarships. This would extend the current two-semester scholarships to eight semesters.
In addition, the order in which students’ scholarships apply toward tuition would change. Now, all university scholarships are taken before a student’s Pell Grant; under the new system, the Pell Grant would be taken after academic scholarships, but not after any other university scholarships or waivers.
With the new restructuring at WSU, it’s worth a look at the policies at other universities across Utah.
Utah State University has a similar policy to many of the other universities in Utah. According to their scholarship office, there is no limit on scholarship refunds. This means all remaining balances of university scholarships, after they are applied to tuition, are sent to students.
Currently, only their top academic scholarship is offered for four years, with all other main-campus academic scholarships offered for two years. On their smaller campuses, one-year awards are offered.
University of Utah has a different policy, depending on whether a student receives a waiver or a scholarship. Tuition waivers can only apply directly to unpaid tuition and fees, and the student receives no refund from that.
However, some scholarships are “cash” scholarships and can be refunded to students, no matter how much they earn.
All academic awards a student receives at U of U are for eight semesters.
Utah Valley University also offers an unlimited refund on all scholarships from the institution. According to their scholarship office, they allow refunds so students can purchase books and pay for other costs that incur when attending college.
The top two academic scholarships at UVU both last four years. The third lasts two years, while the fourth lasts one.
Snow College’s refund policy is very similar to how WSU’s in the coming 2018-2019 academic year. Each semester, Snow College allows a student to get a refund of up to 700 dollars per semester. The scholarship office stated that the refund was for books and other costs that students often fight when going to school.
All scholarships available through Snow are renewable annually, based on criteria for the different scholarships.
Southern Utah University has two different types of scholarships. A tuition scholarship can only apply toward tuition and fees, while the “open” scholarship can be refunded up to an estimated cost of living.
SUU also offers eight-semester scholarships for all of its academic awards.
Dixie State University is the only school with a blanket policy that does not allow for any refund on scholarship money awarded from the university.
Dixie State offers five, four-year academic scholarships and one, two-semester academic scholarship.
The one thing that all the universities had in common was how they apply students’ Pell Grants with regards to tuition. Every university took all university scholarships before they took the Pell Grant.
So, how does WSU compare with scholarship refunds?
In past years, WSU had a 150 percent tuition cap, so a student could receive full tuition plus up to a half-tuition refund. This year, that cap was lowered to 125 percent and will remain in effect until next year.
This year, that meant full-time resident students could get a scholarship refund of roughly $850, and full-time non-resident students could receive a refund of around $2,000.
And beginning in 2020-2021, the cap is set to lower again, this time to 100 percent. With this cap, no student can receive a refund beyond what is left of their Pell Grant.
Under the current system, WSU is then comparable to Snow College’s policy while the projected 2020-2021 plan would be the same as Dixie State’s policy.
How does WSU compare with the length of academic awards?
Currently, only one academic award was offered for four years, with all others being a one-year scholarship.
Under the new restructuring, all academic awards will be offered for four years. This will be comparable to the majority of scholarships that are offered throughout the state.
What about Pell Grants?
WSU’s current policy is to take Pell Grants after any university scholarships, which is the same as all the other universities.
However, after the restructuring, the Pell Grant will be taken after the academic awards, but before the rest of the scholarships offered by the university. With the 100 percent cap, students then don’t have money for books, parking and rent from overcapping in academic rewards.
The coming changes have the potential to expose the current student population to detriments, especially for those who rely on the money they receive as a refund and for those who rely on their Pell Grants to pay for more than tuition.
Policies vary throughout the state, and there is no one-size-fit-all strategy for any university. At the end of the day, paying for college won’t be the problem, but paying for food will.
For all of the schools listed, both resident and non-resident scholarships were looked at, but for non-traditional students, there may be other policies and additional scholarships that are not compared.
