South Carolina LIFE Scholarship

For general eligibility requirements, a student must:

• Graduate from a South Carolina high school or complete a home school program as prescribed by law while a dependent of a parent or guardian who is a legal resident of South Carolina.
• Be a legal South Carolina resident at the time of high school graduation and at the time of college enrollment.
• Be a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident. DACA students are not eligible.
• The student must be in an eligible program of study and enroll full-time in ** at least 12 semester credit hours of college-level, non-transitional studies/non-developmental-level courses to receive the LIFE scholarship. Students may enroll in both college-level AND transitional-level as long as there is enrollment in at least 12 credits of program-level courses; however, LIFE scholarship will not cover the tuition charges for transitional-level courses.
  
  • ** 62-1200.35. Students with Disabilities: LIFE Scholarship: Students who qualify under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 may not be required to fulfill the full-time enrollment requirement if first approved by GTC Student Disability Resources.
  • Transitional level courses include but are not limited to: Zero-level courses and CHM 100, ENG 012, MAT 020, MAT 019 and MAT 012 will NOT count toward hours needed for the LIFE Scholarship.
• Certify he/she has never been convicted of any felonies and has not been convicted of any alcohol or other drug-related misdemeanor convictions within the past academic year.
• Verify he/she is not in default and does not owe a refund or repayment on any Federal or State financial aid.
• South Carolina residents who were South Carolina residents while in high school and did not have a high school 3.0 GPA, or who completed a GED, can gain LIFE eligibility by meeting other requirements after their first year of college. See Financial Aid for details.

Summer Eligibility:

• If a student has met the requirements for renewal at the end of the Spring term the student would be allowed to receive LIFE Scholarship for the Summer term if they are enrolled in 12 LIFE-eligible credit hours. Students must request to use the LIFE Scholarship in the Summer by emailing the Financial Aid Office for review.

4-year eligibility:

• If a student has met the above requirements, they will be informed via email notification to their GTC student email.

­­­Selection of recipients & Requirements for first-time entering freshman:

• Entering freshmen will be selected based on their final high school transcript. To establish base eligibility, the student’s official final high school transcript must be received by and processed by enrollment services.
• The student must earn a cumulative 3.0 grade point average (GPA) based on the SC Uniform Grading Policy (UGP) upon high school graduation. The GPA must be reported to two decimal places (minimum) and be calculated after official completion of courses required for high school graduation.  Early high school graduates who enroll Spring semester must submit all necessary documents to the institution for approval.
• Students who initially enroll Spring semester are required to earn 15 non-developmental credit hours with a 3.0 cumulative GPA by the end of the summer term and prior to the beginning of the following Fall semester.

Requirements for second-year eligibility:

• Earn a minimum of 30 non-developmental credit hours with a 3.0 cumulative GPA based on grades earned at ALL institutions attended.
• Second-year students who meet eligibility requirements will be selected based on academic records with a minimum 3.0 LIFE cumulative GPA, completion of at least 30 degree credit hours by the end of their first year of college (15 degree credit hours if enrollment began in January), enrollment in a minimum of 12 non-developmental credit hours, and the number of remaining semesters of availability. Transfer students who meet all eligibility requirements but did not transfer all earned credit hours from previous college(s) should complete the LIFE Scholarship Transfer form if you believe you are eligible but have not received notification from GTC.
• Credit hours include any college credits earned during an academic year as well as Dual Enrolled, hours exempted by examination (EO) and AP credit hours taken while in H.S can count in the credit hours needed for renewal.

A summer semester scholarship disbursement yields a potential for those eligible students who demonstrate they are on an accelerated track to graduation to earn a degree at a faster pace than on a traditional academic calendar. The availability of summer awards allows for a decreased time-to-degree alternative which in turn assists students in attaining educational goals at lower costs.

For participation in summer scholarship disbursement, at the end of the spring semester a LIFE Scholarship recipient must:

• Earn a cumulative 3.0 LIFE GPA; and
• Earn at least 30 non-remedial coursework during the fall and spring terms, including AP, IB, Dual Enrollment, CLEP or exempted credit hours.
• A summer term cannot be a scholarship recipient’s first term of enrollment.
  • First-time entering freshmen will not be penalized for any credit hours earned during the summer session immediately prior to the student’s initial college enrollment. The credit hours earned will not count against the terms of eligibility. The credit hours may be used toward the annual credit hour requirement.
• A student must demonstrate having attempted and/or enrolled in a total of at least twelve credit hours over the course of the entire summer term to be awarded.
• Students must request to use a summer semester of eligibility by reaching out to the Financial Aid Office.