USA Institutional Scholarship Earn Back Program

At the University of South Alabama, we’re committed to your success and want to help you achieve your educational goals. If you have a renewable scholarship and don’t meet the academic standards by the end of the academic year, your scholarship will not be renewed. But don’t worry—there’s a way to earn it back.

What You Need to Know:

• To keep your scholarship, you must earn at least 30 credit hours and meet the required cumulative GPA* by the end of the academic year.
• If you don’t meet these requirements, you’ll be notified via your university email.
• You can take summer courses at USA (at your own expense) to try and meet the criteria.
• If you still don’t meet the standards after summer, you can join the USA Institutional Scholarship Earn Back Program.

About the Earn Back Program:

This program gives you a probationary year  with a required workshop, one-on-one advising, and support to help you complete the required credit hours or improve your GPA. Once you are back in good standing, your award will be reinstated.

Steps to Participate:

• Apply: Complete the Earn Back application in the JagSPOT system. The application is open until the last day of late registration (drop/add) for the Fall term.
• Enroll: After approval, enroll in the JagSuccess workshop through Student Academic Success.
• Meet Requirements: Complete the Earn Back program, earn 30 credit hours, and attain the required GPA* by the end of the academic year.

You must apply for the program in the semester following the loss of your scholarship. If eligible, you can continue in the program as long as there’s time left on your scholarship (semesters in the Earn Back Program count against your eligible semesters). However, you need to reapply each year.

At the end of the year, we’ll review your progress. If you’ve successfully completed the program and met the academic standards, your scholarship may be reinstated.

Important Notes:

• Out-of-state residents can participate in the Earn Back program, but they’ll only be eligible to earn back the scholarship portion of their award. The in-state tuition rate will change to the out-of-state rate and can’t be reinstated.
• Continuous enrollment at USA is required. If you voluntarily forfeited your scholarship, you can’t participate in this program.
• If there were extenuating circumstances, beyond your control, that kept you from meeting your scholarship renewal requirements, you may be eligible to appeal the loss of your scholarship. 

*For the USA Freshman Admission scholarships, a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA is required. For the Jaguar Marching Band Scholarship, a minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA is required.

Jaguar Marching Band Scholarship: To earn back this scholarship, you must also be currently participating in the band and have the Director’s approval.