TELS Continuing Eligibility

A student who is initially eligible for a Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship must continue to meet eligibility requirements in regard to GPA and enrollment status.

I.         GPA Requirements

A.      Repeat Provision

B.      Regain Provision

II.       Continuous Enrollment

III.      Enrollment Status

IV.   Time Limits

I. GPA Requirements

A TELS recipient must have a 2.75 cumulative TELS GPA after the first 24 attempted credit hours.  A TELS recipient must have a 3.0 TELS GPA after attempting 48, 72, and 96 credit hours. 

*Applicable only if degree program requires more than 120 hours.

The TELS GPA does not include grades for courses taken before high school graduation (such as dual-enrollment courses).  Grades for all courses taken after high school graduation, including repeated courses, are included in the TELS GPA.  Please see the Repeat Option section below for additional information about repeated courses.

A student is considered to have completed an Attempted Hours Bracket at the end of the semester in which the student attempts the given number of credit hours.  For example, a May 2004 graduate takes 12 hours during Fall 2004 and 15 hours during Spring 2005.  The student drops one class during the spring semester, finishing the semester with 12 earned hours.  The student has attempted 27 hours and has reached the 24 hour bracket at the end of the Spring 2005 semester; the student must have a TELS GPA of 2.75.  All grades for Fall 2004 and Spring 2005 will be included in the TELS GPA.  Grades for courses taken during the Summer 2005 term will not count in the 24 hour bracket, but will be included in the 48 hour bracket.

A. “Repeat” Provision

As indicated above, TSAC’s TELS policy states that grades for all courses taken after high school graduation will be included in the TELS GPA, including courses later retaken for a higher grade.  However, each student will be allowed to repeat a single class and request that the earlier grade be excluded from the TELS GPA.  (Please Note: A student may repeat multiple classes according to institutional policy, but only one grade may be excluded for TELS purposes.)  When the student reaches the next bracket (at 48, 72, or 96 TELS attempted hours), the excluded grade will not be considered in determining whether the student meets the GPA requirement.

A student must submit a Repeat Option Form to request that a repeated grade be excluded.  The student must additionally consult with an advisor in the Academic Support Center regarding the use of the Repeat Option.  The student may be required to submit a Regain Option Form also to regain eligibility for a TELS award.

B. “Regain” Provision

A student who was initially eligible for a Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship but who lost eligibility due to failure to meet GPA requirements may be able to regain TELS eligibility.  The student must meet the following criteria:

• Must have lost eligibility due to failure to meet GPA requirements.
• Must meet requirement of at least a 3.0 TELS GPA after 48, 72, or 96 TELS attempted hours.
• Must meet all other continuing eligibility criteria for every semester, including semesters for which the student did not receive a TELS award:
  • Must have been enrolled at least half-time every fall and spring semester
  • Must have maintained enrollment status for every semester. (For example, a student who enrolled in full-time hours must have finished the semester with at least 12 credit hours.)
  • Must meet all other continuing eligibility criteria as stated in TSAC’s TELS policy.
• Must submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the current year.  The FAFSA must be processed every year by September 1.

A student may regain the TELS award beginning with the semester after attempting 48, 72, or 96 hours as defined by TSAC’s TELS policy.  Awards cannot be applied retroactively to prior semesters.  A student must submit a Regain Option Form to notify the Financial Aid Office of eligibility under the Regain Provision.

Example 1:

A student had a 2.63 after 25 attempted hours and therefore lost eligibility for TELS at the 24-hour bracket.  After 54 attempted hours (at the 48-hour bracket), the student has a 3.02 TELS GPA.  The student will be eligible to receive the award beginning with the next semester.  The student will not be eligible for any retroactive awards for previous semesters.  All attempted hours and grades will count toward TELS calculations, including classes taken in semesters the student did not receive a TELS award.

Example 2:

A student had a 2.59 after 32 attempted hours and therefore lost eligibility for TELS at the 24-hour bracket.  After 48 attempted hours, the student has a 3.14 MTSU GPA but only a 2.98 TELS GPA.  (The difference may be due to dual-enrollment classes which don’t count in the TELS GPA or repeated classes which do count in the TELS GPA.)  The student will not be eligible for a TELS award at this time.  However, the student may be able to regain the award after the next bracket, at 72 attempted hours.  The student may also exercise the Repeat Option listed above to exclude one repeated grade from the TELS GPA; if the class was retaken before the 48-hour bracket and the new TELS GPA is at least 3.0, the student may be eligible to receive a TELS award beginning with the next semester.

II. Continuous Enrollment

Students must enroll no later than 16 months after graduation from high school or home school. GED students must enroll within 16 months of the GED test date.

All TELS recipients must enroll at least half-time (at least 6 credit hours) every Fall and Spring semester.  A TELS recipient is not required to attend during Summer terms; however, all summer courses will be included in the TELS attempted hours and GPA.

Please Note: A student using his or her Regain Option must have been enrolled at least half-time for every Fall and Spring semester, including semesters for which the student did not receive a TELS award.

III. Enrollment Status

A TELS recipient must maintain his or her enrollment status each semester. (Example: A student receiving a full-time scholarship must remain enrolled in at least 12 hours through the end of the semester. A student receiving a part-time scholarship must remain enrolled in at least 6 hours through the end of the term.) A student who withdraws or who drops below the required number of hours will lose the scholarship for all future semesters and may be required to repay all or a portion of the current semester's awards.

Failure to attend classes may result in the loss of TELS eligibility.  An Unofficial Withdrawal may result if one or more professors report that a student stopped attending classes during the semester.  A TELS recipient must continue to attend classes through the end of the semester to maintain his or her enrollment status.

If extenuating circumstances prevent a student from meeting Continuous Enrollment requirements, the student may appeal to the Financial Aid Office by submitting a Tennessee Lottery Appeal form, a detailed statement regarding the circumstances, and documentation to support the appeal.  Please visit http://scholarships.web.mtsu.edu/telsappeals.htm for more information about filing a TELS appeal.

Please Note:  Graduates between January 1, 2003, and November 30, 2003, were required to complete additional requirements to establish eligibility for a Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship.  A 2003 graduate was required to successfully complete 24 credit hours with a 2.75 TELS GPA before the start of the Fall 2004 semester.  Enrollment requirements stated above did not apply for the 2003-2004 academic year.  Beginning with the Fall 2004 semester, 2003 graduates must meet all continuous eligibility requirements in regard to enrollment and GPA.  A 2003 graduate who met the hours requirement but did not meet the GPA requirement for 2003-2004 may be able to regain eligibility through the Regain Option.

IV. Time Limits

A TELS recipient who meets the above requirement may receive the Hope Scholarship until one of the following events occurs:

• The student attempts 120 hours (by TELS calculations).
• Five years have passed from the initial date of enrollment.
• The student completes his or her first bachelor degree.

Please note that the attempted hours include all hours for courses taken after high school graduation.  Repeated, dropped, and withdrawn courses count against the 120-hour limit.  Additionally, courses for which the student did not receive a lottery scholarship (e.g., classes taken during the summer, classes taken by a 2003 graduate during the 2003-2004 year) count in the attempted hours. State lottery rules do not allow for additional hours to complete a double major or minor or to take remedial courses. Historically, most students reach the attempted hours limitation before completing a degree.

Dual-enrollment hours (that is, courses taken before high school graduation) and test credits (such as AP credits) do not count in TELS attempted hours. If you believe such credits might be included in your TELS statistics, please notify the Financial Aid Office.

Certain programs require more than 120 credit hours for completion. TSAC’s TELS policy allows a student to receive up to 136 hours or the number of hours required, whichever is less, when the program is more than 120 hours in length. Students who believe they are in such a program should contact the Financial Aid Office for more information.