Merit Scholarships and Need-Based Grant Renewal Requirements

Merit scholarship awards are offered to day division students as part of the undergraduate admissions process. These awards assume that students will maintain continuous full-time enrollment and are only valid for the number of terms normally required to earn an undergraduate degree. They are not available during the summer. The scholarship amounts are set as part of the admissions process and are not increased during the student's enrollment at Loyola. The University reserves the right to cancel or reduce the scholarship of any student found guilty of disciplinary or honor code violations.

Unless noted on the award letter, institutional scholarship and grant funds are applied to tuition charges only. If you drop a class AND receive a tuition refund, your scholarship will be proportionally adjusted based on your lower tuition cost. Scholarships and grants will also be proportionally adjusted for students who choose to enroll on a part-time basis

All initial scholarship recipients will need to sign a Scholarship Certification Form before funds can be credited to their accounts. The Certification Form outlines the conditions for renewing institutional merit scholarship awards.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid ("FAFSA") serves as the application for all need-based institutional grant programs.

Renewal Requirements:

All scholarship awards, with the exception of the Transfer Merit Scholarship are available for a total of eight undergraduate semesters.

Scholarships may be applied to tuition charges only. Scholarships will be proportionally reduced for students who drop below full-time status and receive a reduction in their tuition charges.

The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid will review recipients cumulative grade point averages ("GPA") at the end each spring semester to determine their eligibility for continued funding. To have their scholarships automatically renewed, recipients must achieve the following grade point average AND earn a minimum of 12 credits each semester:

• Note: Students whose spring semester gpa meets the minimum requirements may receive a conditional award for the subsequent year even if their cumulative gpa does not meet program requirements.

Ignatian Scholarship for Academic Excellence: maintain a minimum 3.2 cumulative GPA and continue to reside on-campus (for the housing portion of the scholarship). Starting with the 2009-2010 academic year, new recipients must participate in the Honors Program, attend Ignatian scholarship events, and participate in a service-learning project and attend and overnight retreat.

Dean's Scholarship for Academic Excellence, the Loyola Scholarship for Academic Excellence: maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 - 3.0

Business Scholarship for Academic Excellence: remain in a business degree program and maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 - 3.0

Social Justice Scholarship: perform at least 45 hours of community service work each semester, major or minor in sociology, maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 - 3.0. Students must also submit mid-semester and end-of-semester reports documenting their community service to Prof. Kathleen Fitzgerald, the Social Justice Scholarship Faculty Facilitator. Students who decide that they no longer want to major or minor in sociology will forfeit $1,000 of their award. For further information, contact Prof. Fitzgerald.

Transfer Scholarship: must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0, renewable for a total of six undergraduate semesters.

Recognition Award: must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0

Janssen Grant: must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0.

Loyola Grant (need-based scholarship): must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0

Departmental scholarships (i.e., Music, Visual Arts, and Theatre Arts) must also fulfill other provisions required by the individual department.

Other Circumstances:

1. Students who take a leave of absence from Loyola must submit the Request for Reinstatement of Merit Scholarship  to the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid no later than 30 days after the first day of the semester. Scholarships will normally be reinstated for students who were in good academic standing according to the guidelines for their scholarship program.
2. Students who have been academically excluded for at least one semester and who have been given permission to re-enroll by their academic dean must submit the Request for Reinstatement of Merit Scholarship  with all required documentation. These requests must be submitted at least 30 days before the start of the semester in order to permit them to be reviewed by the Financial Aid Appeal Committee (see following section)
3. We do not guarantee that original scholarship offers will be fully reinstated for students who choose to withdraw from the University and then subsequently choose to return to Loyola. Students who have completed course work at another institution will normally need to apply for re-admission to Loyola through the Office of Undergraduate Admission and will be considered for funding under the Transfer Applicant Scholarship Program .

Financial Aid Appeals Committee

The Financial Aid Appeals Committee will review the academic records for all students who do not automatically meet the renewal requirements for their scholarship award.

The Financial Aid Appeals Committee will also review the records of students who have documented disciplinary problems while attending Loyola University New Orleans. Based on information in the disciplinary record, the Committee may reduce or cancel future disbursements of merit funds to these students.

Students will receive written notification if the Committee adjusts or cancels their merit scholarship aid for the upcoming school year. Students have the right to appeal any decision adjusting their merit aid. Appeals must be filed within 30 days of notification that aid eligibility has been adjusted, and it must be made in writing to the Director of the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. The appeal may not be based upon your need for the assistance of your lack of knowledge that your assistance was in jeopardy. An appeal would normally be based upon some unusual situation or condition which prevented you from achieving your minimum required GPA, or which necessitated that you withdraw from classes.

• Request for Reinstatement of Merit Scholarship

Study Abroad

Scholarships are applicable to Loyola's academic year Exchange Programs but can not be used at any "outside" study abroad programs. Some programs do not provide on campus housing. In those instances, the Ignatian Scholarship will cover tuition only.

Scholarship Extensions

Institutional scholarships and grant awards normally cover a maximum of 8 semesters of undergraduate study. On a funds available basis, scholarships may be extended for no more than 2 additional semesters. Students cannot request an extension until they have received their 8th semester of aid.

All requests for extensions must be made in writing to the Director of the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid . The request should outline why you could not complete your degree requirements within 8 semesters and should outline your academic plan to degree completion. 

Updated May 15, 2013