Access and Diversity Scholarships

The Access and Diversity Scholarship is designed to assist in meeting the College’s goal to enhance education by increasing access and diversity at all levels.  Applicants who meet the eligibility criteria for the Access and Diversity Scholarship will be selected by the Financial Aid Scholarship Committee.  The committee will select recipients from the pool of qualifying students by using a holistic and competitive process that considers an applicant’s academic standing, educational goals, community involvement and other attributes described in this document.

 

TO QUALIFY, a student must meet ALL of the following criteria:

1.      Be admitted to the College

2.      Be a Tennessee resident

3.      Have a minimum cumulative high school or college Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.5 or a minimum General Education diploma (GED) score of 450

4.      File the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

5.      Submit a completed scholarship application to the financial aid office by March 15

6.      Meet with director of Access and Diversity to complete an academic plan for the upcoming semester

 

ADDITIONALLY, a student must meet AT LEAST ONE of the following criteria:

1.      Be a member of an underutilized population (African American, Hispanic, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and Asian)

2.      Show documented financial need as determined by the Financial Aid office

3.      Be an adult student (age 25 or older)

4.      Complete disclosure and documentation procedures with Services for Students With Disabilities indicating that the student is eligible for accommodations at the College

5.      Graduate from an inner city high school in the College’s service area (Austin-East, Central, Fulton )

6.      Graduate from a rural high school in the College’s service area (Carter, Gibbs, Heritage, William Blount)

 

Award Amount: the amount of the scholarship shall be determined as follows:

1.      Full-time student (12 or more credit hours) - $1000 per academic year, the amount to be divided equally between fall and spring semesters

2.      Part-time student (11 or fewer credit hours) - prorated amount to be based on number of hours attempted each semester

 

Award Stipulations: The grant will be awarded fall semester and renewed spring semester if the following criteria are met:

1.      Student must maintain a minimum 2.5 GPA

2.      Student must successfully complete 2/3 of attempted hours,

3.      Student must participate in the mentoring and retention program through the Access and Diversity office