TRINITY SCHOLARSHIPS
Trinity's Scholarship Committee awards scholarships to full-time (minimum 9 credits/semester) matriculated residential students with demonstrated need. (Jan Term counts for Spring Semester; June Term does not count for either semester.) New students typically receive Deo Gloria Scholarships. Continuing students receive Trinity scholarships from scholarship endowments according to the various scholarship criteria: some funds are restricted to students who come from a certain region, diocese, or parish. Several are restricted to a certain degree program or to a student with a particular ministry intention.
Application Process
Application for a Trinity Scholarship includes completing:
1. the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)* and
2. the Trinity Scholarship Application Form
Both the FAFSA link and the Trinity Scholarship Application are found on the Trinity Scholarship webpage. (*Even if the student is not pursuing federal student aid, Trinity requires scholarship applicants to file the FAFSA for Trinity's institutional assessment of the student's relative need.) Beginning in April, applications will be received, processed, and awards made on a rolling basis for the coming academic year. Priority will be given applications on a first come, first served basis. Applicants will receive an official award letter. Each year a new Trinity Scholarship Application must be completed. Continuing students should submit their applications by the end of May for Academic Year 2010-2011. For those students who will begin as full-time students in the Spring Semester, scholarship applications for the half year (for January 1 - June 30, 2011) should be received in the Financial Aid Office by November 30, 2010.
Award Levels
Trinity uses the information provided from the applicant's FAFSA as well as the Trinity Scholarship Application in determining the student's level of need. See the Federal Student Aid Program section for more information on the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Those applicants deemed to have a high need level will be awarded a full-tuition scholarship. Applicants with a medium need level will be awarded a 2/3-tuition scholarship. Those with a relatively low need level will be awarded a 1/3-tuition scholarship. An applicant deemed not to have demonstrated need, will be awarded a single token scholarship of one course (3 credits) tuition scholarship. Trinity will award tuition-based scholarship funds for the exact number of credits required to complete the degree program in which the student has matriculated. Tuition-based scholarships can only be applied to a student's account after the student has enrolled in his or her courses for the term. Audits will not be covered by the Trinity Scholarship.
Summer Scholarship Eligibility
The Summer Term is a stand-alone term [June Term and Biblical Language courses in Summer Term], which is the last term of the Academic Year. There is no 'full-time requirement' during the Summer Term as such. Trinity Scholarship recipients (who were full-time minimum 9 credits in the Fall and Spring Semesters or at least in the Spring Semester) will be eligible to receive tuition-based scholarship assistance for summer classes based on their same level of need for the regular school year.
- A continuing student having received a Trinity Scholarship for the year (Fall & Spring Semesters or at least Spring Semester) will be eligible to receive scholarship at the same level for June Term and/or Biblical Language courses.
- A new incoming student who files a Trinity Scholarship Application and FAFSA for the upcoming year, and is awarded a scholarship for the upcoming year, will be eligible to receive a tuition-based scholarship for June Term and/or Biblical Language courses based on his or her need-level/ award level determined for the upcoming year.
Remaining Eligible
In order for the scholarship recipient to remain eligible to receive these funds, he or she must meet the following criteria:
- remain enrolled as a full-time student for the award semester(s) (minimum 9 credits per semester),
- remain in good academic standing as defined in the Academic Bulletin,
- return a signed copy of the Trinity Scholarship Award Form to the Financial Aid Director,
- for each scholarship award, send a thank you note to the person(s) designated and provide a copy of each note to the Financial Aid Director before the first day of the Semester.
If the student's status changes such that he or she no longer meets these requirements the result may be the revocation of the awarded funds and that student may be required to immediately repay these funds.
Consequences for Dropping Classes
Should the student drop a course during the specified drop/add period (see Refund Schedule in the Academic Bulletin), the tuition scholarship will be returned to the scholarship fund. The scholarship recipient will be charged the portion of the tuition that was not refundable, as would a full paying student (See Refund Schedule in the Academic Bulletin). During the drop/add period, the dropped credits will not count against the total number of credits for the student's program. After the drop/add period has ended, the student who drops a course forfeits the tuition covered by scholarship; and the credits for the dropped course will count toward the student's total number of credits for which Trinity is providing scholarship funds. Similarly, if a student takes an incomplete for a class, but then fails to complete the class, those credits attempted will count toward the student's total number of credits covered in the tuition-based scholarship plan. The tuition cost incurred for a repeat course or for a substitute course for any of the following reasons will not be covered by a Trinity Scholarship: a failed course, a dropped course after the drop/add period, a course change from credit to audit, or an incomplete course. (see Examples of How a Dropped Class Affects a Student's Tuition-Based Scholarship)
Examples of How a Dropped Class Affects a Student's Tuition-Based Scholarship
Scholarship at the End of the Student's Academic Program
A full-time student (and Trinity Scholarship recipient) who will have completed all but 3 (or 6) credits toward his degree program (no repeated coursework) and plans to take 6 credits in the summer term and/or next semester to finish, that student will be eligible for tuition-based scholarship, based on his or her previously determined need-level (high, medium, or low).
