South Carolina Code of Regulations › Chapter 62 - STATE COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION › Article VII - SOUTH CAROLINA ACADEMIC ENDOWMENT INCENTIVE ACT OF 1997/SOUTH CAROLINA HIGHER EDUCATION MATCHING GIFT FUND › SOUTH CAROLINA HOPE SCHOLARSHIP › Section 62-900.95 - Student Eligibility

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 6, June 28, 2024
A. To be
				eligible for a SC HOPE Scholarship, the student must:
1. Be a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent
				resident that meets the definition of an eligible non-citizen under State
				residency statutes at the time of high school graduation, whose lawful presence
				in the US has been verified at the time of enrollment at the
				institution;
2. Be classified by
				the awarding institution as a South Carolina resident for in-state purposes at
				the time of high school graduation and at the time of enrollment at the
				institution, as set forth by Section
				59-112-10
				and be either a member of a class graduating from a high school located in this
				State, a home school student who has successfully completed a high school home
				school program in this State in the manner required by law, or a student
				graduating from a preparatory high school outside this State, while a dependent
				of a parent or guardian who is a legal resident of this State and has custody
				of the dependent according to State Statute, Section
				59-149-50A.
				A student must be a legal permanent resident of the United States before being
				considered to be a South Carolina resident;
3. Earn a cumulative 3.0 grade point average
				(GPA) based on the South Carolina Uniform Grading Policy (UGP) upon high school
				graduation. No other grading policy will be allowed to qualify for the SC HOPE
				Scholarship. Grade point averages must be reported to two decimal places
				(minimum) and may not be rounded. For example, a student who earns a 2.99 GPA
				is not eligible. A student who earns a 3.00 GPA or above is eligible.
				Institutions shall use the final cumulative GPA as reported by the high school
				on the official high school transcript. The SC UGP GPA and class rank (if
				school/association officially ranks as a policy) must be printed on an official
				final end of year high school transcript, which must also include a uniform
				date of calculation as determined by the Commission on Higher Education. The
				graduation date must also be printed on the final end of senior year high
				school transcript, and no grades earned after the date of the graduating high
				school class for the graduation year. If a South Carolina resident student is
				graduating from an out of state high school, it is the responsibility of the
				out of state student's school counselor to convert the students final high
				school GPA and class ranking to an eligible final high school GPA based on the
				S.C. Uniform Grading Policy. The converted final high school GPA and class
				ranking (if applicable) must be provided to the eligible S.C. Institution
				before a student can be awarded. A student who graduates high school with a
				General Educational Development (GED) Diploma is not eligible to receive the SC
				HOPE Scholarship;
4. Be admitted,
				enrolled full-time, and classified as a degree-seeking undergraduate student in
				an eligible institution in South Carolina;
5. Certify that he/she has never been
				adjudicated delinquent, convicted, or pled guilty or
nolo
				contendere
to any felonies and/or any second or subsequent
				alcohol/drug related misdemeanor offenses under the laws of this or any other
				state or under the laws of the United States by submitting a signed affidavit
				each academic year to the institution testifying to the fact. However, a high
				school or college student who has been adjudicated delinquent, convicted, or
				pled guilty or
nolo contendere
of a second alcohol or other
				drug related misdemeanor offense is ineligible for the next academic year of
				enrollment at an eligible institution after the date of the adjudication,
				conviction or plea. If the adjudication, conviction, or plea occurs during the
				academic year after the student has already submitted a signed affidavit to the
				institution, the student is still eligible for the Scholarship for the
				remainder of the academic year. However, the student will not be eligible to
				receive the LIFE Scholarship the following fall, spring, and summer terms (or
				their equivalent), even if all other eligibility requirements have been met. If
				a student completes a pretrial intervention program and has his/her record
				expunged, the conviction will not affect Scholarship eligibility;
6. For a home school graduate to be eligible
				for the SC HOPE Scholarship, the student must be a member of an approved South
				Carolina homeschool program as defined in the State Statute (Sections
				59-65-40,
				45, and 47) that provides a GPA on an official transcript upon high school
				graduation based on the Uniform Grading Policy. No other grading policy will be
				allowed to qualify for the SC HOPE Scholarship. Grade point averages must be
				reported to two decimal places (minimum) and may not be rounded; and
7. In order to meet the GPA requirement, a
				student who attended an out-of-state preparatory high school or graduated from
				a SC high school prior to the full implementation of the Uniform Grading Policy
				must have their grades converted to the SC UGP. This conversion is the
				responsibility of the out of state preparatory high school or SC high school.
				These students must meet all other eligibility criteria, including SC residency
				requirements.