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Scholarship Policies

Miami University is committed to help make education affordable and attainable. Toward that goal, we make every effort to provide accurate, timely, and current information. However, the university also reserves the right to change without notice any statement due to federal, state, or university changes in policies, procedures, or regulations. The following policies assist the Office of Student Financial Assistance in administering Miami scholarships in a fair and equitable manner to all university students.

General

  • Students can receive renewable scholarships for a maximum of eight semesters.
  • A student cannot receive any combination of aid, including loans, grants, federal work-study, and scholarships that exceed the cost of attendance. If the total amount of financial aid exceeds the cost of attendance, the amount of aid will be reduced. 
    • Exceptions apply if a student is receiving a University tuition waiver (for example, Staff Family Waiver). In this case, the combination of tuition waiver and University scholarship may not exceed tuition, general fee, and if living independently of their parents, standard double room, and standard meal charges.
  • Students awarded scholarships to pay for housing and meals are required to live on campus and purchase a meal plan to receive the housing and meals scholarship, with minor exceptions.
  • Scholarships awarded to cover tuition will be renewed at the same amount, assuming that other scholarship requirements are met. They will not be increased each year to offset the rise in tuition
  • Students eligible for the tuition waiver cannot also utilize the TEAM Scholarship.
  • All or part of a student’s institutionally offered scholarship(s) may be replaced with a donor funded scholarship. If a student is awarded a donor funded scholarship, the completion of a Scholarship Thank You Letter to the donor is required. The student will receive an email in the fall with instructions for completing the thank you letter. Failure to write the thank you letter may result in the temporary or permanent loss of the scholarship.

Enrollment

  • Annual scholarship awards are made assuming students will attend both fall and spring semesters. Students who do not enroll at Miami for both semesters will have their scholarship amounts reduced to reflect their one-semester scholarship eligibility.
    • Students cannot receive the full annual amount of their scholarship during one semester.
  • Students must enroll full-time to receive their scholarship. Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis for students who submit a Scholarship Appeal. 
    • An example of an approved appeal would be if the student is in their final semester and full-time enrollment is not required to graduate. Scholarships are prorated based on enrollment. Proration Schedule matches Enrollment Status Criteria.
Credit Hours
Undergraduate Credit Hours Graduate Credit Hours Percent of Scholarship
12+ (full time) 9+ (full time) 100%
9-11.99 (3/4 time) 7-8.99 (3/4 time) 75%
6-8.99 (1/2 time) 5-6.99 (1/2 time) 50%
<6 (less than 1/2 time) <5 (less than 1/2 time) 25%
  • Students can use their Miami scholarships during fall and spring semesters only. Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis for students who submit a Scholarship Appeal.
    • An example of an approved appeal would be if the student will graduate at the end of summer enrollment, and funding is available. Scholarships are prorated based on enrollment, as outlined above.
  • Scholarship eligibility ends once a student graduates unless they are enrolled in a combined Bachelor and Master Program (BAMA).
    • Students enrolled in a BAMA program are unable to receive undergraduate and graduate aid simultaneously. Any undergraduate scholarships will be canceled upon receipt of graduate tuition waiver or other types of graduate tuition assistance.
    • Graduate students in a BAMA program with an assistantship are ineligible for undergraduate scholarships.
  • Students who withdraw from campus mid-semester will be refunded based on the university’s published refund schedule. If any portion of the scholarship is used, then that scholarship will count as a semester of eligibility. If you choose to not use your scholarship, you will be responsible for any funds owed to the school. Please reach out to One Stop if you have any questions about the use of your scholarship during a withdrawal process.

Renewable Scholarships

  • Students must achieve a minimum cumulative grade point average (CGPA) to renew scholarships. The financial aid offer from the Office of Student Financial Assistance informs students of the CGPA required to renew their specific scholarships.
  • Each year at the end of spring semester, the CGPAs are reviewed for students receiving scholarships. Any scholarship recipient who does not have the required CGPA will lose their scholarship for the following year, with the ability to appeal.
  • Some scholarships require students to remain enrolled in certain major fields. Students who lose eligibility for a scholarship due to changing majors cannot appeal the loss of the scholarship.

Change in Campus, Transferring, Re-enrolling

  • Students with Miami scholarships who re-enroll to Miami Oxford may complete a Scholarship Appeal requesting to have their scholarships reinstated.
    • Students may re-enroll for various reasons such as academic suspension, deferring, relocating from Miami Regionals, transferring from another university, withdrawing, etc.
  • Students who transfer to a Miami Regional campus will forfeit their Oxford scholarship for each semester of attendance at the regional campus. In addition, the fall/spring semester(s) at the regional campus count as a semester used for Miami scholarships, even when the scholarship was not paid out.
  • If a student decides to attend a Miami Regional campus as a first-time incoming student, their original Oxford scholarship offer is forfeited.
  • New transfer students will be considered for annual merit scholarships. For more information, visit Transfer Scholarships.
  • Students who transfer to another university and then return to Miami Oxford, will not have the semester/year count as a semester used for Miami scholarship eligibility.
  • Renewable scholarships are awarded for a maximum of eight semesters. Scholarships that are approved for reinstatement will typically be reinstated for the remaining number of semesters of eligibility.

Internships and Co-ops

  • Students who participate in an internship or co-op during fall or spring semester will usually not be charged full-time tuition by Miami. Because students are not charged full-time tuition, students are not eligible to receive their scholarship for the period during which they participate in the internship or co-op. Students cannot receive the full annual amount of scholarship during one semester.
  • Since students do not receive their scholarship benefit during the semester of internship/co-op, the intern/co-op semester is not counted as one of the eight semesters of scholarship eligibility. 
    • For example, if a student participates in an internship during the fall semester of their junior year, they would not receive the scholarship(s) during this fall semester but could use the scholarship during the fall semester of a fifth year of college. If the student does not need or chooses not to attend a fifth year of college, the scholarship for the semester of internship/co-op will be forfeited.

Study Abroad Programs and Scholarships

  • Visit our Financial Aid for Study Abroad page for additional information on study abroad.
  • Study abroad programs that fall under the category of Co-Sponsored, Exchange, Faculty-led, MUDEC (Luxembourg), and FSB Semester programs, permit students receiving Miami scholarships and grants to apply those funds toward the cost of their program. 
    • Students participating in Approved study abroad programs are not eligible to apply their Miami scholarships or grants toward the program.
  • Summer and winter study abroad programs do not allow the use of Miami scholarships unless a scholarship is offered by your academic department or study abroad program. Visit Education Abroad for a list of study abroad programs and resources.
  • Oxford undergraduate students demonstrating financial need, and who plan to attend full-time during either the fall or spring semester in a study abroad program, are eligible to receive a university grant up to $600 for their study abroad airline ticket. An additional amount of up to $600 is also available as an interest-free university loan. This one-time Airfare Grant is available to a student for one study abroad semester while attending Miami.

Contact the One Stop

The One Stop assists Miami students and authorized family members with billing and payment, financial aid, registration, and student records.