The University announced Friday that undergraduate scholarships would be renewed for the 2020-2021 academic year regardless of previous requirements.
Previous scholarships granted by the University typically have requirements involving GPA and the number of credit hours the student is taking. Now, all scholarships will be renewed next year for students who meet federal requirements for satisfactory academic progress.
Under the federal requirements, students must have a certain GPA based on how many credits they have attempted, and must successfully complete 72% of credits attempted, including transfer credits. Grades of A, B, C, D, pass or satisfactory will count toward a successful completion.
The required GPA to meet the federal standard increases based on how many credits have been attempted. For students who have attempted zero to 29 credits, the GPA requirement is 1.75, increasing to 1.90 for students who have attempted 30 to 59 credits and to 2.00 for students who have attempted 60 to 195 credits.
“Seton Hall University recognizes the many pressures students and families are currently facing as a result of the coronavirus,” the University wrote in an email to the student body. “To further support our students, we are suspending requirements for all undergraduate scholarship renewals for the spring 2020 semester.”
Junior economics major Jordan Shepherd typically has to fill out forms to renew her scholarship.
“I think that the school’s announcement helps students that had been selected for verification greatly,” Shepherd said. “Without access to the school’s resources or on-campus Financial Aid office it’s difficult, if not impossible, to submit the official documents.”
Undecided freshman Brigid Benko expressed gratitude for the announcement.
“I think that it’s really considerate for the university to freeze requirements for scholarships,” Benko said, “This semester has been really hard on most of my friends, and I’m glad that the university is acknowledging that our declining GPAs were out of our control with the virus.”
More information can be found on the Financial Aid website.
Daniel O’Connor can be reached at daniel.oconnor1@student.shu.edu. Find him on Twitter @ItsDanOConnor.
