Garrett County Scholarship Program
What Is the Garrett County Scholarship Program?
The Board of Garrett County Commissioners recognizes that the County's future economic well-being is dependent on having an educated, skilled workforce that is prepared to compete successfully for jobs in an increasingly competitive, global economy. The scholarship program provides current Garrett County high school graduates equal access to post-secondary education and an equal opportunity for advancement.
The Garrett County Scholarship Program (GCSP) is a scholarship that provides eligible Garrett County high school graduates a student aid package that covers the cost of tuition and combined fees at Garrett College. GCSP provides for required developmental studies and up to 64 credit hours of study in the student's chosen program at Garrett College.
The program began in 2007 as the Garrett County Commissioners' Scholarship Program and was changed in 2008 to the Garrett County Scholarship Program. The program was expanded in 2011 to include non-credit certificate programs and dual enrollment. In 2019, the program was again amended to raise the grade-point average (GPA) to a 2.5 each semester with an appeal process.
Am I eligible for the Garrett County Scholarship Program?
To be eligible, a person must satisfy all the requirements set forth below:
- The individual must apply for admission to Garrett College, satisfy the College's admissions requirements, and be admitted.
- The individual must complete and submit the following items by their respective deadlines: Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), Garrett College Admissions Application, and GCSP Application.
- The individual must meet one of the following criteria:
- A member of the current graduating class of Northern Garrett High School or Southern Garrett High School as designated by the Garrett County Board of Education (GCBOE). “Current” means the student graduated in the spring immediately prior to the beginning of the fall classes at Garrett College; OR
- A student who is certified by the GCBOE as homeschooled and whose date of birth falls during a specific period of time as specified annually by the Board of Education in order to validate equivalency to the high school graduating class of the current year; OR
- A student who is certified by a state-approved non-public school located and operating in Garrett County, who is a documented graduate of the current school year, and whose date of birth falls during a specific period of time as specified annually by the GCBOE in order to validate equivalency of a high school graduate of the current year; OR
- A person who was a recipient of a General Equivalency Diploma (GED) during the Board of Education's immediately previous academic year.
- Any individual not meeting 3(a) – 3(d) above would need to submit a written appeal for reconsideration of the scholarship program.
- The individual must be a legally documented 1 resident of Garrett County for a period of two full years prior to graduation or receipt of GED. The determination of residency status shall be at the sole discretion of Garrett College. Students who live in Garrett County but attend school in another county are not eligible for the scholarship.
- The individual must be enrolled full-time at Garrett College (12 credits minimum) during the Fall and Spring semesters and may at his/her election also enroll for any number of courses during the Summer or Winter sessions with no minimum credit requirement.
- The individual must be enrolled in an approved Garrett College credit degree or certificate program.
Garrett County Scholarship Program Requirements
- To sustain eligibility, all students receiving the scholarship must maintain a minimum 2.5 semester GPA in every semester of study including grade equivalents for developmental course work.
- Students who fail to maintain this academic standard will become ineligible for the scholarship. Eligibility may be restored if students regain a 2.5 semester GPA by taking courses on a self-pay basis. Students may appeal their loss of funding by seeking an exception and following the process outlined below in the Appeals section.
- Students have three years of GCSP eligibility and must graduate or transfer within those three years from the date of original attendance at Garrett College. However, students are not required to maintain continuous enrollment in order to be eligible.
- Students may enroll in approved programs of study articulated between Garrett College and other institutions of higher education. However, the program will only cover the cost of education taken at Garrett College.
- The program will cover the tuition and combined fees for required developmental courses, with the exception of developmental courses taken during a high school dual enrollment period.
- The program will pay only for required developmental courses and for an additional 64 credit hours of study at the maximum. However, the program will not, under any condition, pay for any repeated courses. Students must self-fund or use other financial aid for such courses.
- Students who reduce their course loads to part-time status lose their GCSP eligibility thereafter except under extraordinary circumstances. The decision as to whether to grant an exception is discussed below in the Appeals section.
- Students are required to apply for various forms of financial aid. Grant and scholarship aid, which a student can receive from any source, is applied to the cost of Garrett College tuition and the combined fees. Grants and scholarships that are excluded from this calculation include the following: any grant or scholarship from an outside party, the Garrett College Foundation, and any award made by a Maryland Delegate or Senator. Federal Pell Grants, and any form of the Howard P. Rawlings Educational Excellence or Maryland Community College Promise awards, are deducted prior to the Garrett County Scholarship Program. The Garrett County Scholarship Program truly serves as a last dollar award.
GCSP was expanded to include non-credit coursework through CEWD; students may choose from fourteen workforce development programs leading to licensure and/or certification. This piece of the scholarship program is administered fully by CEWD.
Garrett County high school students are eligible to participate in the dual enrollment program at Garrett College and receive funding through the GCSP. The following criteria must be met:
- Student must be:
- A currently enrolled Garrett County public high school student who has met all GCBOE dual enrollment guidelines as outlined by the Northern and Southern Garrett High School Guidance offices; OR
- Certified by the GCBOE as homeschooled and whose date of birth falls during a specific period of time as specified annually in order to validate equivalency to that of a high school student; OR
- Certified by a state-approved non-public school (located and operating in Garrett County, Maryland) as a documented graduate of the current school year, and whose date of birth falls during a specific period of time as specified annually by the GCBOE in order to validate equivalency of that of a high school student.
- Student must be a legal United States citizen residing in Garrett County, Maryland.
- Student must be in all college-level coursework. The GCSP will not cover any remedial coursework for a dually enrolled student.
- Dual enrollment is determined by the Admissions office at Garrett College in cooperation with Garrett County Board of Education high school guidance officials.
- The GCSP-DE scholarship is calculated at fifty percent (50%) of the in-county tuition rate and one hundred percent (100%) of the combined fees for the approved credit hours the student is enrolled. Registration fee, all course fee(s) and textbook costs are the responsibility of the student.
- High School DE students are not required to meet Satisfactory Academic Policy (SAP); however, continued eligibility to participate in the DE program is determined directly by the high school(s).
- Students who matriculate into Garrett College following dual enrollment will be held to all of the standards mentioned above for all students. This shall include a 2.5 overall GPA from dually enrolled courses and a continuance of a 2.5 semester GPA. Additionally, any courses taken as dually enrolled and repeated later shall not be eligible for payment under the GCSP.
- Program contingent upon available funding.
Students who fail to meet the minimum GPA requirement and are therefore ineligible for the GCSP scholarship, will be contacted by mail (USPS) and email. Information will be provided explaining the appeal process.
A student who fails to meet the GPA requirement may submit a written appeal to the Garrett College Director of Financial Aid for a probationary, warning semester to improve his/her GPA.
The decision to grant an exception or a special condition shall be at the sole discretion of the Garrett College Director of Financial Aid, or his/her designee.
Both Garrett College and the Garrett County Board of Commissioners make no warranty either implied or explicit that the Garrett County Scholarship Program will be fully funded in any semester of study. The amount of the awards each semester is dependent upon the amount of funds allocated to the program and the number of students that qualify. For example, students might receive the full amount of funding for which they are eligible in the fall semester of a year but receive only 75% in the spring semester.
Garrett College will announce prior to the start of each semester the percent of funding that the program will provide so that students can decide whether they wish to enroll. In collaboration with the Board of Education, Garrett College shall act as the regulatory body regarding the proper implementation of the terms and conditions of the Garrett County Scholarship Program as stated herein. The decisions of the College are not subject to appeal.
Garrett College does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, national origin, ethnic origin, or handicapping conditions.
