Don't Lose Hope — Keeping Your HOPE Lottery Scholarship

Submit Your FAFSA Every Year

You must submit the FAFSA every year as soon as it opens. Lottery scholarship disbursement depends on an active FAFSA on file for the current aid year. Do not wait — submit at studentaid.gov as early as possible each year.

Enrollment Requirements

Your award amount depends on how many hours you are enrolled each semester.

• Full-time: 12 or more credit hours

• Part-time: 6 to 11 credit hours — award is prorated based on enrollment

If you drop below 6 credit hours, you are no longer eligible for a lottery scholarship disbursement for that semester.

GPA Requirements and Benchmarks

Your lottery scholarship is evaluated at specific attempted-hour benchmarks. You must meet the minimum TELS GPA at each checkpoint to continue receiving your award.

Full-time students may also maintain eligibility by achieving a 3.0 semester GPA paired with a 2.75 cumulative TELS GPA at the 24- and 48-hour benchmarks.

Your TELS GPA Is Not the Same as Your APSU GPA

Your TELS GPA is calculated differently from your APSU institutional GPA:

• TELS GPA includes all postsecondary credit hours attempted after high school graduation — including developmental, remedial, and repeated courses

• TELS GPA excludes college-level courses taken before high school graduation (those courses count toward your APSU GPA but do not count toward TELS GPA or attempted hours)

• Dropping a course after the 14th day of the semester counts as a "W" or "F" toward your TELS attempted hours

To view your current TELS GPA: log in to AP OneStop → Student Records → View Lottery Eligibility.

Incomplete Grades

If you receive an Incomplete ("I") grade in a course, that course still counts toward your TELS attempted hours for the semester. If the final grade is later posted and causes your TELS GPA to fall below a benchmark, your lottery award may be canceled and funds already disbursed may need to be repaid. Plan carefully before accepting an Incomplete.

Course Choice Counts

All courses used to establish TELS eligibility must be part of your declared program of study. Courses outside your program of study do not count toward your enrollment requirements for lottery scholarship purposes.

Review your program's required courses at AP Course Choice Counts to make sure your schedule keeps you on track.

Regaining Eligibility

If you lose your lottery scholarship for not meeting a GPA benchmark, you have one opportunity to regain it:

• Raise your TELS GPA to the required minimum by the next benchmark evaluation, or

• Use the course repeat option (see below)

You may only regain eligibility once. If you lose it a second time, the award is permanently canceled.

Course Repeat and Exclusion Option

You have a one-time option to retake a course and exclude the lower grade from your TELS GPA calculation. When you use this option, the higher of the two grades is used in your TELS GPA, but the attempted hours from both enrollments still count.

Important limitations:

• This option cannot be applied to grades of FA, FN, W, or WF

• You may only use this option once in your enrollment history

• Using this option doesn't use up your one chance to regain eligibility.

To request it, submit the Lottery Scholarship Course Repeat/Exclusion Consent Form to the Financial Aid Office. You can find it on the Financial Aid Office's State Scholarship Forms page.

Time Limits

Your HOPE Lottery Scholarship eligibility ends whichever comes first:

• 5 years from the date of your initial enrollment at any eligible postsecondary institution, or

• The date you earn an advanced degree

Appeals: What Qualifies and What Doesn't

Qualifying Reasons for an Appeal

You may file an appeal if a qualifying event affected your enrollment or caused you to withdraw from a semester:

• Change in enrollment status due to extenuating circumstances

• Medical or personal withdrawal (documented)

• Failure to meet timely or continuous enrollment requirements due to extenuating circumstances

• Military withdrawal

What Cannot Be Appealed

Appeals are not available for the following:

• GPA requirements

• ACT, SAT, or GED score requirements

• Attempted hours or years limits

• Income limits

• Residency status

How to File an Appeal

Complete the Tennessee Scholarship Appeal/Leave of Absence Request Form — available from the Financial Aid appeal forms page — and submit it to the APSU Financial Aid Office. Submit your appeal by the end of the semester you're asking to be reinstated for. Appeals received after that semester ends can't be considered for that term.

If APSU denies your appeal, you may appeal further to the TSAC HOPE Lottery Scholarship Award Appeal Panel. Visit the TSAC TELS appeals page for instructions on filing a panel appeal.

Questions?

Contact the APSU Financial Aid Office for help with your lottery scholarship. You can also visit AP OneStop to view your current TELS GPA and attempted hours.