In response to multiple school closures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development (MDHEWD) issued guidance regarding A+ scholarship renewal criteria for the 2019-2020 academic year. The guidance allows students to renew the award in the 2020-2021 academic year.

Students must meet BOTH the full-time completion requirement AND the cumulative GPA requirement for the spring 2020 semester (as stated below) in order to maintain eligibility for the A+ scholarship in their following semester.

  • To clarify, this guidance is temporary and applies only to students who were eligible for an award in at least one semester (fall and/or spring) in the 2019-2020 academic year.

To review specific guidance provided by MDHEWD , click on A+ Scholarship.

Full-time completion requirement

If you were enrolled in 12 or more credit hours (or all available hours) on March 12, 2020 you have met the full-time enrollment and completion requirement for the spring 2020 semester.

GPA requirement

If you received an A+ award in at least one semester (fall and/or spring) during the 2019-2020 academic year and your cumulative grade point average (CGPA) at the end of the spring 2020 semester is 2.0, you will have met the A+ CGPA requirement for 2020-2021 renewal.

Example 1: Student Eligible for 2020-2021 Renewal

An initial student:

  • Was eligible for a fall 2019 A+ award, but Pell reduced the award amount to zero.
  • Did not have a 2.0 cumulative grade point at the end of the fall semester (thus ineligible for spring).
  • Is meeting the schools definition of SAP at the end of the spring 2020 semester with a cumulative GPA of 2.0.

This student is able to renew the award in the 2020-2021 academic year based on the the school’s definition of SAP because they were eligible for an award in at least one term (fall 2019) and is meeting the school’s definition of SAP.

Example 2: Student Ineligible for 2020-2021 Renewal

A renewal student:

  • Had less than a 2.5 CGPA at the end of spring 2019 (2018-2019 academic year)
  • Enrolled in summer 2019 courses (2019-2020 academic year) but was ineligible for A+ due to the CGPA at the end of the summer 2019 term.
  • Had less than a 2.5 CGPA at the end of fall 2019

This student cannot renew the A+ award in the 2020-2021 academic year based on the school’s definition of SAP because they were not eligible for an award in at least one semester in the 2019-2020 academic year. However, if the student has a 2.5 CGPA at the end of the spring 2020 semester they would be eligible to renew the A+ award for their next semester of enrollment. Otherwise, this student cannot receive another award until they regain a 2.5 CGPA.