External Scholarships

All external scholarship checks awarded to students to attend UGA should be mailed to:

The Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA)
University of Georgia
Holmes-Hunter Academic Building, Room 312
101 Herty Drive
Athens, GA 30602

Make all scholarship checks payable to the University of Georgia. If a check is made co-payable to UGA and the student, the student must sign the check, which may delay the funds’ application to the student’s account.

The external scholarship check(s) and/or documentation sent to OSFA should include:

1. Student’s name
2. UGA student ID number
3. Directions on how the funds are to be disbursed, i.e., fall only, spring only, or for the full academic year
4. Any restrictions of the fund, i.e., tuition only, tuition and fees only, or toward the total cost of attendance, if applicable

In order for a scholarship to credit a student’s account before their charges are due, we recommend that checks be submitted to UGA by the dates below:

• July 15 for fall semester
• December 1 for spring semester
• May 1 for summer sessions

Timely processing requires the assistance of students. Students must let their donor know of University of Georgia’s tuition and fee payment deadlines (see the Bursar & Treasury Services webpage (opens in new tab)). All checks received after the dates above will still be processed, but we cannot guarantee that the check will be fully processed and funds applied to the student’s account prior to the payment deadline. The student is responsible for ensuring their account balance is paid by the payment deadline.

The typical processing time for private scholarship checks ready for deposit is 5-7 business days. At peak times (middle of July through the end of September, and middle of December through the end of February), students should allow 10-14 business days for processing private scholarship checks.

Out-of-date or expired checks will not be accepted and will be returned to the awarding organization for reissue.

All scholarships $1,000 or greater will be divided evenly between the fall and spring semesters unless the donor directs OSFA to do otherwise. Students may also email [email protected] with specific requests about how they would like funds distributed (e.g., all funds for Fall). As long as the donor did not include specific instructions that the student’s request would violate, we are glad to make these changes.

Scholarship funds are first applied to a student’s outstanding UGA charges. After a student’s current charges are paid, any resulting credit balance is refunded to the student by Bursar & Treasury Services (opens in new tab).

In accordance with federal regulations, our office is required to monitor whether a student’s total financial assistance exceeds their aid eligibility. The receipt of a private scholarship may result in the reduction or repayment of federal funding or need-based financial aid previously awarded to the student by the University of Georgia. Whenever possible, self-help awards (loans and Federal Work Study) are reduced before federal or institutional gift aid.