Financial Aid

The application for summer financial aid is available at finaid.cofc.edu/pdf-forms/SSAP.pdf. This application is for Maymester through Summer II. The priority deadline is April 15; if you do it after that your aid probably won’t be ready for when the bill is due and you’ll risk getting dropped for non-payment.

To receive aid (except unused Pell Grant), you must be enrolled half-time, 6 hours for undergrads and 3 hours for grads. The summer application has a place to enter the number of credits you’re taking in which term. Please only submit the application after you’ve signed up for the courses. We will not process it until your registration matches, and so turning it in early slows down the process. Also, if you change from one term to another (like switching from Summer I to Summer II), you must contact our office: I recommend emailing financialaid@cofc.edu.

We have awarded LIFE and HOPE Scholarships for entering freshmen in MyCharleston. When the Commission on Higher Education notifies the College of Palmetto Fellows in April, we’ll award those scholarships, but until then the computer automatically awards a LIFE Scholarship. Palmetto Promise will be calculated at that time too.

Entering freshmen can take the SAT and/or ACT tests through the June test dates to raise their score for a state scholarship. So if a student has a HOPE Scholarship and increases his/her score to 1100 SAT or 24 ACT, the HOPE will be replaced with the LIFE Scholarship. Since the Palmetto Fellows involves applying through the high school, I would recommend that students with close scores talk to their guidance counselor about the feasibility of increasing the scores high enough to become eligible.

Last week we sent out emails notifying entering freshmen that were awarded Presidential Scholarships. All students that applied for admission by Dec. 1 were considered. This year’s group was filled with more talented students than ever before; the average for a scholarship recipient is SAT score of 1325 (ACT: 30) and weighted GPA of 4.438. So for everyone that was awarded a scholarship, congratulations.

Unfortunately our budget doesn’t allow for us to award all the students we wish we could, not by a long shot. Also, due to the preparation the scholarship committee takes in making the awards, the awards are not negotiable. Of course, we always recommend that student diligently research and apply for outside scholarship.

Federal aid will be available the beginning of April for students that have completed the FAFSA.