Tennessee Educational Lottery Scholarship Information (HOPE or TELS)

Basic Tennessee HOPE Lottery Scholarship Requirements

  1. Be a resident of Tennessee for at least one year as of September 1 of the year you begin college.
  2. Graduate from an accredited Tennessee high school in 2003 or later.
  3. File a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in a timely manner. Belmont must be listed number one in the list of schools for us to receive this information. We encourage you to do this by March 1 of each year, but it must be processed no later than September 1 of the year attending school to be considered.
  4. Post a score of 21 or higher on the ACT or 980 or higher on the SAT OR have a cumulative weighted high school GPA of 3.0 or higher per the uniform grading policy (per high school).
  5. Graduates of home school programs are required to meet other special provisions. Visit www.tn.gov/collegepays for a list of these requirements.

 Renewal

  1.  You must complete a FAFSA each year that you are in school.
  2. Eligibility shall be reviewed by the institution at the end of the semester in which the student has attempted a total of 24, 48, 72, 96, and any subsequent multiples of 24 semester hours thereafter. Additionally, at 72 attempted semester hours and beyond, students may be reviewed at the end of each semester if they maintain the award on a provisional basis. The student:
    a. Must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 after 24 and 48 attempted semester hours.
    b. After attempting 72 hours and beyond, may retain the award by either: 
               i.  Achieving a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 OR
              ii. Achieving a 2.75 - 2.99 cumulative GPA after 72, 96, and any subsequent multiples of 24 attempted semester hours thereafter AND a semester GPA of at least a 3.0 in the preceding semester in which the student will receive the award as a full-time enrolled student (student will be reviewed on a semester-by-semester basis and must maintain full-time enrollment).
    c. Must maintain continuous enrollment AND satisfactory academic progress.
    d. Cannot drop from full-time to part-time within a semester without prior approval from the Office of the Registrar.
    e. Be enrolled in at least 6 hours; 12 hours if eligible on provisional basis.
  3. Scholarship is terminated after attainment of baccalaureate degree OR 5 years have passes from initial enrollment - whichever occurs first

Transfer Students

Welcome to Belmont University.  The following is important information regarding the HOPE Lottery Scholarship if you were receiving the HOPE Lottery Scholarship at your previous institution OR if you are transferring from an out-of-state institution, but graduated from high school in Tennessee:

Once you have been admitted to Belmont University, you must submit final transcripts from all previous colleges and universities.  Once these transcripts are received, the Office of the Registrar will review:

  1. Your eligibility upon high school graduation.
  2. The number of hours attempted at other institutions of higher education.
  3. Your overall college GPA.
  4. Your enrollment record at previous institutions to determine if you meet ‘continuous enrollment' provisions of the HOPE Lottery Scholarship statutes.
  5. Other information deemed pertinent to determine eligibility.

*The Office of the Registrar cannot make a determination of eligibility until you have been fully admitted to Belmont University and all official transcripts have been received.

Appeals

Students may appeal denied eligibility of their HOPE scholarship for the following reasons:         

  1. Withdrawal from the university.
  2. Failure to enroll within 16 months of high school graduation, home school completion, or GED test date.
  3. Failure to enroll for one or more required semesters.
  4. Other extenuating circumstances beyond your control (must be verifiable and thoroughly documented by authoritative sources).

*Click here to access the Appeal Guidelines

*Click here to access the Appeals Form

Reinstatements (Regain)

Your HOPE Scholarship may be regained under the one-time only Reinstatement Option.  These requests can be submitted at the end of the semester the HOPE attempted hour checkpoint (24, 48, 72, and 96) has been reached.

  1. In order to regain the HOPE Scholarship by choosing the one-time-only Reinstatement Option, you must be at the next HOPE attempted hour checkpoint (24, 48, 72, 96 or 120 attempted hours) before receiving the award. For example, if you lost your scholarship at the 24 attempted hour checkpoint due to HOPE GPA, you can regain the scholarship the semester after you have reached the 48 attempted hour checkpoint. However, you must have the required TELS GPA. Click here to access the TELS Reinstatement Request Form.

Students also have the one-time only Class Repeat Option to help in retaining or regaining HOPE.  

  1. If you repeat a course due to poor performance, by choosing the one-time only Class Repeat Option, the bad grade will be removed from the HOPE GPA and replaced with the repeat grade. To retain or regain HOPE, the repeat course must be taken before the attempted hour checkpoint has been reached. After the repeat has been applied and you have the required cumulative HOPE GPA, your scholarship will be awarded the following semester. Click here to access the Class Repeat Option Request Form.