The information below is designed to help you answer common questions about how scholarships are awarded, renewed, rescinded, reinstated, and more. If you need additional assistance or information about your specific scholarship, please contact us any time.
All IU scholarships will be selected and awarded by March 15. Following March 15, all incoming students will know if they have received a scholarship from IU Bloomington and should base their enrollment decisions on the financial aid and scholarships they have already received. This includes all IU Scholarships Application scholarships and other departmental scholarships across the IU Bloomington campus, unless mentioned otherwise.
Use the Scholarships task in One.IU to explore scholarships that might apply to you. In the Scholarships task, you'll complete the IU Scholarships Application (used to match you with scholarships from IU, the IU Foundation, and the IU Alumni Association). We recommend that you complete the IU Scholarships Application between September 1 and March 10 each year.
Students can receive multiple scholarships from Indiana University Bloomington and external sources. If a scholarship stipulates that it can only be applied toward a specific type of expense (such as tuition and fees only or housing and food only), it cannot be combined with any other scholarship that covers only those expenses.
If you anticipate a change in your residency, you may contact the Office of Scholarships at scholar@iu.edu to ask how this update will affect your scholarship offers.
Students admitted to Indiana University Bloomington may defer enrollment for up to one year. If a student completes the deferral process by the deadline, eligibility for the IU Academic Scholarships will carry forward. Once you complete the form and enroll in full-time coursework for the new enrollment semester, your original scholarship offer should appear on your account within 2–3 weeks. For scholarship offers from outside OEM, the awarding department will exercise discretion regarding the availability of the scholarship for the new enrollment semester.
IU Academic Scholarship (and some other OEM Renewable Scholarships - contact scholar@iu.edu to confirm eligibility) recipients may take time away from Indiana University Bloomington for up to two standard academic semesters (fall/spring) and maintain scholarship eligibility at the time of their return.
To pursue this option, you must have maintained your scholarship's renewal GPA and full-time requirements prior to taking your leave of absence. Students cannot enroll full-time (12 or more credit hours) at any other institution, including other Indiana University campuses, during their leave of absence.
Scholarship Rescindment means that IU has revoked the scholarship in question. If IU rescinds one or more of your scholarships, you can no longer use it.
The Office of Scholarships will not cancel a disbursed OEM scholarship unless you:
If you withdraw from IU within the first week of classes, that semester will not count as a semester of use for OEM scholarships.
For the purposes of receiving and renewing scholarships, full-time enrollment is 12 or more degree-seeking credit hours.
Generally speaking, the Office of Scholarships always recommends students submit their FAFSA regardless of it is required or not for renewal purposes. As each scholarship differs on the requirements for renewal, please contact our office at scholar@iu.edu for further assistance.
There are a few things you can do:
Take summer classes: Take one or more classes online or in person on any of the IU campuses during the summer to try to raise your GPA. The Office of Scholarships will take applicable summer course work into consideration when reviewing a student's cumulative program GPA.
Do a summer overseas study program(s): Take coursework through overseas study during the summer to try to raise your GPA. Overseas study coursework must be IU-approved and billed through the IU Bursar in order to qualify for renewal review.
Keeping working on raising your GPA throughout the following academic year: If your GPA is raised to meet this requirement, you could be eligible for scholarship reinstatement given you meet all other renewal requirements as well. Please note that the Office of Scholarships does not offer mid-year review or reinstatement. Scholarships can only be reinstated prior to the beginning of each academic year.
You should work closely with your academic advisor to select appropriate courses that will positively affect your cumulative program GPA. If you plan to retake a course for reinstatement of your scholarship(s), please confirm with your academic advisor how it will interact with your cumulative program GPA.
The Office of Scholarships and the Office of Student Financial Assistance are not accountable for a student’s decision to take courses that do not raise the cumulative program GPA to meet the GPA requirement for your scholarship(s). Exceptions cannot be made if you complete coursework that does not raise your cumulative program GPA to meet your scholarship(s)'s GPA requirement.
You should take courses that positively affect your cumulative program GPA. You will need to work closely with your academic advisor to select these appropriate courses. The Office of Scholarships and the Office of Student Financial Assistance are not accountable for a student’s decision to take courses that do not raise the cumulative program GPA to 3.0 or above.
Please note that each academic unit has their own policy for how the Extended-X Policy factors into the calculation of the cumulative program GPA. If you plan to retake a course over the summer for reinstatement of your scholarship(s), please confirm with your academic advisor how it will interact with your cumulative program GPA.
Yes, we have established an appeal process for students who feel not meeting the renewal requirements is a direct result of circumstances out of their control. If you feel that this may apply to you, please complete contact the Office of Scholarships at scholar@iu.edu for additional information and next steps.
Please include in your email:
Please note that any sensitive personal information like a social security number (SSN) or bank account information should not be included.
You can view scholarships and other types of financial aid awarded and/or offered to you in your Financial Aid summary. This summary can be accessed through following the instructions below:
The “Financial Aid Summary” reviews financial estimates from the Student Central Department. It breaks down your financial information such as your Excepted Family Contribution, Estimated Need, Total Aid (scholarships, loans, grants, etc.), and Remaining Need.
Our Words to Know page helps to explain each of these terms.
The View Financial Aid section focuses specifically on the total amount in the "Total Aid" box of your Financial Aid summary. The total amount is first broken down into semester amounts, and then by each financial aid source (scholarship, loan, grant, work-study, etc.) you have been awarded and/or offered for the academic year. Each financial aid source's line will include the following information:
External scholarships are managed by the Student Central Department. Please see the Student Central website for instructions on awarded external scholarships under their "What to do if you have an external scholarship" section.
External scholarships are managed by Student Central. Please see the Student Central website for accurate, up-to-date instructions for sending external scholarship funds.
Steps for mailing external scholarship funds:
Indiana University - Office of the Bursar
P.O. Box 6448
Bloomington, IN 47407
If your scholarship has not arrived by your bill due date, contact Student Central as soon as possible to discuss payment options.
About 10 days before classes start, your scholarship(s) are applied to your Bursar bill—which contains all expenses billed to you through the university. Funds restricted to a specific type of expense (such as tuition or room and board only) will be applied first. You can visit Student Central's Manage Your Financial Aid: Paying for College page for more information and explanation on how financial aid is applied to a student's Bursar bill (includes information on Financial Aid Refunds).
If your scholarships, grants, or fee remissions come from IU, they will be reduced to equal your official cost of attendance. If your financial aid comes from an external source, you will still receive it.
The Office of the University Controller is an excellent resource for you to learn more about scholarships and taxes. For additional questions, please contact the Student Central Department.
The IU Pathways Scholarship Program allows students who are graduating early to apply any remaining semesters of their scholarship towards a graduate program on the Bloomington campus (graduate programs at other IU campuses are not eligible for this program).
The IU Pathways Scholarship Program is only available to students enrolling in full-time graduate coursework immediately following the completion of the undergraduate degree. The student must meet all criteria listed below to be considered for this program:
If you are unsure if you meet the criteria for this program, please reach out to the Office of Scholarships at scholar@iu.edu.
Recipients of an IU academic scholarship or a Distinguished Scholar Award can use their scholarship funds towards summer classes if they meet the following criteria and submit an official Summer Awarding Request:
If the student meets all requirements, they can submit their official request to which the Office of Scholarships will review and respond to.
Please note that all other OEM scholarships are not available for use during summer semesters
OEM Scholarships can be applied toward full-time enrollment in a study abroad program that meets the following conditions:
We recommend contacting Education Abroad to verify if a specific program is compatible with use of OEM Scholarships.
Students must be enrolled full-time for their scholarship funds to be disbursed to their account. Some internship courses act as placeholders so students can continue to receive scholarship funds during an internship. To determine if your scholarship(s) will apply to your internship, please contact Student Central.
