Financial Aid and Scholarships

In addition to all general eligibility requirements, continuing students must maintain in-state residency and also meet requirements related to credit hours and GPA earned. Dropping or withdrawing from a class may also impact your LIFE Scholarship.

Credit Hours

• You must earn an average of 30 credit hours for each academic year (fall, spring, summer) equaling a minimum of 30 credit hours if a rising second-year student, 60 credit hours if a rising third-year student or 90 credit hours if a rising fourth-year student.
• If your initial college enrollment was midyear, you must earn 15 credit hours by the beginning of the next academic year (fall semester). In subsequent years, you must earn an average of 30 credit hours for each academic year (fall, spring, summer) equaling a minimum of 45 credit hours after the first full academic year, 75 credit hours after the second full academic year and 105 credit hours after the third full academic year. The LIFE Scholarship will not be awarded midyear in subsequent years.
• Any credit hours earned before high school graduation, hours exempted by examination and advanced placement credit approved by the institution as academic credit will be used toward the credit hour requirement.

GPA Requirement

• You must earn a minimum 3.00 LIFE grade point average on a 4.00 scale by the end of the academic year (fall, spring, summer).
  • As a condition of receiving the LIFE Scholarship, all grades earned (excluding remedial coursework) at eligible public or independent institutions are included in the LIFE GPA. This includes any credit hours and GPA earned prior to high school graduation. Review your LIFE GPA on the Financial Aid Dashboard.

  Dropping a Class or Withdrawing

  • If you are receiving the LIFE Scholarship or any other financial aid, dropping a class or withdrawing may affect your potential refund. Depending upon the type(s) of financial aid awards involved, withdrawal date, the amount of the refund and other factors, you might receive a portion of the total refund amount or none of the refund amount.
  • Under certain circumstances, if you withdraw or drop classes, you will be required to repay financial aid funds you received, including the LIFE Scholarship. This is necessary when the refund amount is insufficient to meet the financial aid fund recovery requirements.
  • If you are considering withdrawing or dropping classes, you should contact the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships before taking this action.

  Changes in Residency

  • A change in your residency and fee payment status to nonresident will lead to the required repayment of your award for any enrollment period in which you are no longer classified as a resident and received the LIFE Scholarship.

  Grade Forgiveness

  • When grade forgiveness has been approved and applied to a course, the grade points and hours earned are eliminated from the calculation of the LIFE GPA and LIFE hours earned. Courses taken at Aiken, Beaufort, and Upstate cannot be used to forgive courses taken at USC or any Palmetto College campus. Learn more about eligibility requirements for grade forgiveness.

  LIFE Scholarship

  Semester Limit

  8You may receive the LIFE Scholarship through the eighth semester following initial college enrollment. The eight-semester limit is based on enrollment only. The limit is not determined by the number of semesters the LIFE Scholarship has been received and includes periods of non-enrollment after your initial college enrollment. You may only receive the LIFE Scholarship Enhancement for a total of six semesters based on initial college enrollment.

  Financial Aid and Scholarships