Scholarships are a valuable way to help fund your education because they don’t need to be repaid—helping to make college more affordable. Applying for scholarships takes time and effort, but the rewards are worth it! Start your search early, meet deadlines, and apply for as many as possible. Some scholarships require separate applications, so check the details carefully.
💡 Tip: Please note that if verification of enrollment is required to apply for a scholarship, the student must obtain that documentation in their PAWS account, under the Student Dashboard’s Additional Links.
Internal Scholarships
ScholarshipUniverse is our scholarship-matching tool for admitted and current students. You complete a questionnaire and an application (for committee awards only) and we match you with available scholarships.
Savannah State University has two types of scholarships- direct awards and committee awards. Direct awards are based on your student questionnaire and student account. There are merit-based scholarships and need-based scholarships, with a variety of criteria. Committee awards are determined by the scholarship committee that established the scholarship. Each committee has their own respective committee award deadlines.
Once you have been selected to receive an award, you will be notified via email to complete a “thank you” letter in ScholarshipUniverse. Once that letter is approved, your award will be updated in your financial aid award in PAWS. Until the scholarship is authorized in your financial aid, it will not display on your student account statement.
External Scholarships
External scholarships are awarded by outside companies and organizations. Competition for these funds vary on the local, state, and national levels. Below are a few examples of opportunities you may want explore when researching external scholarships:
- High school counselors
- Family member’s employers
- Faith-based organizations
- Civic clubs and businesses you or your family may be affiliated with
- MyScholly
- Georgia Futures
- FastWeb
- Scholarship360
When forwarding scholarship funds to our office, please ensure the following are included:
- Indicate your full legal name and student ID number.
- Itemize the type of charges that the organization will be responsible for covering on your account. (For example: tuition, housing, mandatory fees, books, etc.)
- Stipulate the exact term for which the organization will pay your charges.
- Indicate the name, billing address, phone number, and email of the contact person at the organization that is responsible for payment.
💡*Be advised that scholarship funds will be split between fall and spring semesters, unless a term is specified. If a scholarship is submitted for summer, the funds will all be applied towards summer.
HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships
The HOPE Scholarship and Zell Miller Scholarship are two valuable educational funding programs in the state of Georgia.
The HOPE Scholarship, established in 1993, provides financial assistance to Georgia residents who maintain a strong academic record. It covers a substantial portion of tuition and fees. The HOPE Scholarship award amount may vary by academic year. Visit the GSFC Award Amount page for specific funding information. The Zell Miller Scholarship, a more competitive program, offers full 100% tuition coverage to students who exhibit exceptional academic achievement.
These scholarships play a crucial role in making higher education more accessible and affordable for Georgia students, fostering a culture of academic excellence and opportunity.
The information provided here is only highlights of the Program Regulations, so please visit GAfutures.org for more complete information.
Basic HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarship Eligibility Requirements
- You must be a resident of Georgia.
- You must be a citizen or eligible non-citizen to receive funding.
- You must be in a degree seeking program.
- You must be maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress.
- You must not be in default or owe repayment on any federal or state aid.
- Male students must be registered for Selective Service if required.
- You must be in compliance with the Georgia Drug-Free Postsecondary Education Act of 1990.
- Once you earn your first Bachelor’s degree you are no longer eligible for the HOPE or Zell Miller Scholarships.
- Initial eligibility for the HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships is determined by the Georgia Student Finance Commission.
Continuing Eligibility
HOPE Scholarship recipients must maintain a 3.00 HOPE GPA. Zell Miller Scholarship Recipients must maintain a 3.30 Zell Miller Scholarship GPA.
If you are otherwise eligible, you can continue to receive the scholarship through 127 HOPE Attempted or Paid hours, whichever comes first.
SSU checks a student’s HOPE GPA at 30, 60, and 90 attempted hours, as well as every Spring semester. While you can lose HOPE at the Spring semester checkpoint, you can only regain eligibility at the 30, 60, and 90 attempted hours benchmarks.
A HOPE or Zell Miller Scholarship recipient who has lost their Scholarship eligibility at two checkpoints cannot regain eligibility.
About your HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarship GPA
You can view your current HOPE/Zell Miller Scholarship eligible GPA on www.gafutures.org. Your HOPE/Zell Miller Scholarship GPA may be different than your SSU GPA. Login to www.gafutures.org and click “My College HOPE Profile” on the left side menu for a one-page portal where you can see your college GPA for the HOPE/Zell Miller Scholarship, view how many hours you have used, check your expiration date for the scholarship program and more. We encourage you to check this site often to ensure that your information is correct and that you are aware of your HOPE/Zell Miller Scholarship GPA to maintain eligibility.
Effective Fall 2017, when calculating the HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarship postsecondary GPA, an additional weight of 0.5 will be added to grades of B, C, and D for approved degree level science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses taken at an eligible postsecondary institution Fall 2017 or later. You can find a link to the list of approved courses on the STEM Weighted Course Directory. This list changes annually, so be sure to check the information for the correct year.
Grade Changes and Transfer Credit
The SSU Office of Financial Aid will award your HOPE or Zell Miller Scholarship based on the information on file at the time of awarding. If SSU receives additional information such as new transcripts from other schools or grade changes at SSU that change your eligibility at any time, you will be required to repay any HOPE or Zell Miller Scholarship funds you were awarded that you are no longer eligible for.
It is your responsibility to ensure SSU has all of your transcripts in a timely manner.
Visit the HOPE/Zell Miller Scholarship Website
Georgia REACH Scholarship
REACH Georgia is a needs-based mentoring and scholarship program providing promising students the support to graduate from high school and achieve postsecondary success. The overarching goal of REACH Georgia is to provide greater college access for students throughout Georgia and prepare them for the 21st Century Workplace. REACH wants to influence the postsecondary success, and ultimately life outcomes, of low-income students across Georgia. Qualifying REACH Scholars will be awarded a financial scholarship upon graduating from high school.
Award Amounts
Students who complete the program requirements will receive a scholarship of up to $10,000 ($2,500 per academic year maximum) to be used towards the cost of attendance
- $2,500 per year, up to four years
- $1,250 per semester
Award Limits
A student is ineligible for the REACH Scholarship if the student:
- Has a combination of financial awards that exceed the total estimated cost of attendance; or
- Is not enrolled as a full-time student (12 credit hour course load) at the end of the drop/add period; or
- Has reached the expiration of eligibility date, June 30th of the tenth year, following the student’s high school graduation date
Students are required to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year to qualify for the REACH Scholarship.
Maintaining REACH Eligibility
- Meet federal Selective Service registration requirements, per Georgia state law. The requirement to register applies to males who were born on or after January 1, 1960, are at least 18, are citizens or eligible non-citizens who came to the United States prior to age 26;
- Must be enrolled full-time
- Maintain a minimum 2.0 HOPE-calculated GPA and Satisfactory Academic Progress
- Complete and submit Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year of college
- Cannot be in default on a federal or state educational loan or owe refund for a federal or state student financial aid program
Scholarship Award Letters To Secure Classes
Based on Board of Regent’s procedures (BPM 10.1.1), SSU is not allowed to secure a student’s course schedule without approved and awarded financial aid scholarships. Therefore, our office can accept written documentation from donors that scholarship checks are forthcoming to save students from the cancellation for non-payment.
In order for scholarships to be included in the student account at the time of cancellation for non-payment, SSU must receive the award letter with awardees’ name, student ID number, semester or academic year awarding, and anticipated timeframe SSU can expect payment prior to the advertised payment deadline. It is the responsibility of the student to communicate the payment deadline to the donor and to provide the Bursar’s Office with a copy of the award letter. Share a copy of your award letter with [email protected] to ensure your scholarship is processed timely.
Scholarship & Payment Contacts
Please send all scholarship related information, including the physical scholarship check, to the Bursar’s Office. We can be reached at [email protected].
Mail checks to the address below:
Savannah State University
P.O. BOX 27143
3219 College St.
Savannah, GA 31404
