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Financial Aid
> State Programs >
Special Awards
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The
following program provides financial assistance on the basis of academic
achievement. Recipients are selected by the New York State Education
Department and the Awards are paid through HESC.
This academically competitive program provides
scholarship assistance to outstanding New York State high school graduates. Each
year 8,000 scholarships are awarded. Up to 2,000 scholarships of $1,500 are
awarded to the top scholars in the state, and 6,000 scholarships of $500 each
are awarded to other outstanding graduates. The New York State Education
Department selects recipients.
Eligibility Criteria
To receive the scholarship, the student must:
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meet one of the United States citizenship requirements;
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meet New York State residency requirements;
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enroll as a full-time student;
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enroll in an approved undergraduate program of study in a New York State
postsecondary institution;
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have a matriculated status;
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be in good academic standing; and have at least a cumulative "C" average
after two annual payments;
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not be in default on any guaranteed student loan HESC administers.
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First-time award recipients as of the 1996-97 academic year must have
graduated from high school, have a GED or other equivalent of a high school
certificate, or have received a passing grade on an approved
ability-to-benefit test.
Duration
The scholarship must be used within seven years
commencing with the first academic year for which the scholarship was awarded.
During this period, students are entitled to payment for up to four years of
full-time study or five years if enrolled in a bachelor degree program approved
as a program normally requiring five years of study. However, students enrolled
in two-year programs cannot receive more than three years of payment.
Military service personnel and national welfare
servants in, for example, the Peace Corps may receive an extension of up to
three years of the seven-year period when the scholarship must be used.
Extension requests must be made in writing. An approval does not increase or in
any way alter the number, amount, or methods of payment made under the
scholarship.
Award Calculation
Each year up to 2,000 scholarships of $1,500 are
awarded to the top graduating scholar for each high school in New York State.
Additionally 6,000 scholarships of $500 per year are awarded to other
outstanding high school graduates. Scholarships are awarded to New York State
high school graduates in ratio of a high school's number of graduating students
in the previous school year to the total number of New York State graduates in
the previous school year.
Application Procedure
The State Education Department will notify HESC and
those students who have been selected to receive the scholarship. To receive
scholarship payment, the student must also apply to HESC by May 1 of the
academic year for which assistance is being sought.
Revocation
The scholarship will be revoked if the student
begins study at an out-of-state institution. A student who is ineligible for
scholarship payment during the first academic year of eligibility because of
being enrolled in an out-of-state institution loses all future eligibility for
the award. HESC cannot reinstate the scholarship even if the student later
enrolls in a program of study at a New York State institution.
For additional information and applications, you
may contact HESC’s Grants and Scholarships Unit at the address and telephone
number listed below.
New York State Higher Education
Services Corporation
99 Washington Avenue · Albany, New York 12255 · (888)
NYS-HESC
www.hesc.com
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