Scholarship Terms and Conditions

By accepting a scholarship award, you are authorizing Clemson University to release information about you and your scholarship to the media, the donor and University officials. 

Credit Hour Requirements 

• You are required to enroll as a full-time student, defined as 12 credit hours per semester for undergraduates, as of midnight on the last day to drop a class without a "W" for the standard (long) term.
• The only exception to the above rule is during the final semester prior to graduation. If enrolled in at least 6 credit hours during the last term, a student may receive his/her recruiting scholarship in full. Eligible students should notify the Scholarship Office to request this exception by email at finaid@clemson.edu.

Awards by Semester 

• All awards for the academic year are split between the Fall and Spring semesters.
• Early graduates are eligible to use an available stipend the Summer term preceding their final semester/year of enrollment.
• December graduates cannot use the Spring semester stipend for their Fall cost of attendance.

Scholarship Renewal 

• Renewal for University and state scholarships is based on your cumulative Clemson GPA or LIFE GPA and your earned credit hours. Academic Forgiveness can improve your GPA while reducing your earned credit hours, so you must be aware of all consequences before requesting that a grade be forgiven. Please speak with the Scholarship Office if you have questions about how Academic Forgiveness may affect your scholarship eligibility. If you are seeking to regain a scholarship for an upcoming academic year, you must submit the Request for Academic Forgiveness before the first day of class of the Fall semester.
• Substantial scholarships (currently defined as more than $5,000) will not be replaced if a student changes their major. Changing majors will not affect the value of less substantial recruiting scholarships offered to you as a first-year student. However, the individual scholarship may change if the one originally received required a certain major.

Scholarship Amounts 

• University and state scholarships cannot exceed the total cost of attendance. This limitation applies to all financial aid, including outside scholarships, exemptions and waivers to billable charges, and is based on the cost of tuition and fees, housing, food, books, course materials, supplies, transportation and personal expenses. Scholarship stipends, federal aid and/or state aid will be adjusted to ensure that this limit is not exceeded.

First-Year Recruiting Scholarships 

• First-year recruiting scholarships are four-year scholarships awarded to entering freshmen.
• First-year recruiting scholarship recipients are required to pass at least 24 credit hours per year and maintain a cumulative Clemson GPA of at least 3.0. Please read Fund messages in iROAR for more specific information.
• You may receive a first-year recruiting scholarship for up to eight semesters. Renewal for each specific scholarship is listed in messages in iROAR. Renewal eligibility is checked after Spring grades are posted. Students can meet credit hours and/or GPA criteria with credits earned during the subsequent Summer term. Credit hours earned elsewhere must be approved as transfer credits by Enrolled Student Services and an official transcript received by the University for those hours to count towards renewal requirements.
• Students receiving an out-of-state tuition scholarship may be eligible for an out-of-state waiver during Summer Sessions. Please reach out to the Scholarship Office for more information regarding this.

Clemson Foundation Scholarships 

• Clemson Foundation scholarships are awarded annually to continuing undergraduate students.
• Clemson Foundation scholarship recipients are required to pass at least 24 credit hours per year and maintain a cumulative Clemson GPA of at least 3.0. Please read Fund messages in iROAR for more specific information.
• Scholarships that are contingent on a major and offered after your first year will not be renewed if you change your major.