The Merit Scholarship Unit reviews scholars’ academic standing each fall and spring semester to ensure they are maintaining their scholarship requirements. Recipients failing to meet these requirements will lose their scholarship and be notified by e-mail of their award discontinuation. (Only first-semester freshmen are granted an automatic “warning” period if they fail to meet their terms). Once a scholar has been discontinued from their merit scholarship, their award will not be reinstated regardless if the student is able to meet the terms of their scholarship in a future semester. Students will have approximately 2-3 weeks following official notification to appeal the status of their discontinuation.
Scholars with extenuating circumstances may appeal their scholarship discontinuation by submitting a Scholarship Discontinuation Appeal.
- All scholars appealing their discontinuation must submit an appeal form by the published deadline.
- Appeals must include documentation to explain any extenuating circumstances that lead to the unsatisfactory academic results.
- The scholar must also have a detailed plan and timetable on how they will restore themselves academically with the Academic Plan Worksheet.
- The Scholarship Review Committee reserves the right to make individual decisions based on extenuating circumstance(s).
- Please note: If the appeal is denied or no appeal is submitted by the published deadline, the scholarship will be permanently discontinued and cannot be reinstated.
The following information is required in order to complete the appeal request. Feel free to review the documents prior to accessing the on-line form.
- Scholarships Appeal Statement – a personal statement explaining the reason(s) you failed to meet scholarship standards for the semester(s) as reflected on your transcript.
- Scholarships Academic Plan Worksheet – This is an online self-reported worksheet on the appeal form which does not require a meeting with a UMBC Academic Advisor.
- Supporting Documentation – Documentation supporting the extenuating circumstance(s) listed in your appeal statement (i.e. hospital visits/bill, death certificate, etc). Time frames on your documentation should support the circumstance described in your statement.
**No In-Person Meetings with the committee will be accepted. The Scholarship Review Committee will review all appeal submissions as they are submitted online. Notifications regarding final decisions will be sent to each student via e-mail within 48-72 business hours of their submission if submitted prior to the deadline.
The deadline to submit a discontinuation appeal has past. No late appeals will be accepted.
Note: If you choose not to appeal within the allocated time frame, your award will not be reinstated regardless of whether you show academic improvement in future semesters. This is the only period to appeal for reinstatement.