Each Honors student who receives an Honors Scholarship is required to sign a Scholarship Agreement (contract) that describes the scholarship requirements. Scholarship requirements almost always include the following:
- Unless a specific GPA requirement is listed by the donor, applicants must have and recipients must maintain a UTSA GPA of 3.25 or higher (click here to see individual scholarship requirements).
- Enrolling in and completing a minimum of 12 hours per semester (unless otherwise specified).
- Enrolling in and completing at least 3 hours of Honors course work per semester either in a regular Honors section or in a non-Honors course contracted for Honors credit — Non-Honors Course Contract Info. [NOTE: HON 2201 and HON 3301 do not meet this requirement. Taking 6 Honors hours in one semester does not automatically waive this requirement for the next semester.]
- Writing a thank-you letter each academic year: Sample Letter and Guidelines .
- Completing a Scholarship Recipient Information Form each academic year.
- The Office of Advancement sometimes requests a photo of the scholar to include with donor reports. All scholars are asked to send a photo digitally via email.
Renewable scholarships are not renewed when scholarship recipients fail to meet any of these requirements in any semester in which they have received an Honors scholarship.
Automatic Waivers: The Honors course requirement (#3 above) is automatically waived in only one context -- when students are studying abroad through the Office of International Programs. Students may continue to receive Honors scholarships while studying abroad since the Honors College encourages study abroad. Waivers are sometimes granted for students who participate in the National Student Exchange (NSE), although students in NSE are encouraged to attend a university with an Honors Program or Honors College and to take an Honors course there.
Waiver Requests: Students who believe special circumstances apply to their case may request a waiver of scholarship requirements by completing a Waiver of Scholarship Requirements form . Waivers are granted only in extreme and unusual cases and are more common when students drop below 12 hours than when they drop an Honors course. There are no waivers for failure to meet the GPA standard. Waivers are never granted if lack of compliance with scholarship requirements is discovered by the Honors College before a student petitions for a waiver. You must petition for the waiver as soon as you realize that you will be out of compliance with scholarship requirements. Once a scholarship is terminated, the chances of regaining it are very small.
Repayment: Although students are rarely asked to repay a scholarship they have received, there have been cases where repayment is demanded — for instance, when a student fails to complete the terms of a Non-Honors Course Contract and is deemed not to have made a reasonable attempt to do so or when a student drops an Honors course early in the semester.
Signed Agreement Honors Scholars should read their Agreement carefully before signing and should keep a copy of the signed agreement. Some donors have included other requirements which must be met by the applicant and maintained by the recipient. Signing an agreement for an Honors Scholarship signals your understanding of the requirements and entitles the Honors College to demand repayment when the agreement is not honored. (Repayment for more than one semester is never demanded.)
Apply to Honors College
Admission to the Honors College is offered to a select number of highly motivated and successful students who wish to take charge of their education and achieve their highest potential at UTSA.
