
The Maryland Community College Promise Scholarship is a last dollar scholarship that is available to students who enroll at a
Maryland community college. Eligible student can receive up to $5,000 to cover
any remaining tuition and mandatory fee expenses after Federal or state financial aid has been applied.
Who
May Apply?
A
Maryland high school graduate or GED recipient eligible for in-state tuition
who is planning to
enroll or is currently enrolled as a full-time (12 credits semester for credit-bearing courses) student
at a Maryland community college in:
·
a credit-bearing vocational
certificate/certificate/associate degree program;
·
a sequence of credit or non-credit courses that
leads to licensure of certification; or
·
a registered apprenticeship program.
How do I apply?
Submit either the Free Application for
Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) OR Maryland State Financial Aid
Application (MSFAA) by
March 1.
The
MSFAA should only be completed by undocumented individuals who are ineligible
to receive federal financial aid.
Grade
Point Average (GPA) & General Education Development (GED) Requirements for
Initial Applicants
High School GPA Requirements
|
High school seniors
must have earned an unweighted cumulative 2.3 GPA at the end of
the first semester of their senior year in high school or by
the end of their senior year in high school.
|
Community College GPA requirements
|
Individuals
currently enrolled at a community college must document that they earned
a cumulative GPA of at least a 2.5 while previously or currently enrolled at
a community college.
|
GED Requirements
|
GED applicants must
submit a copy of their examination.
|
Exceptions
to submitting a high school transcript: An initial applicant who graduated from
high school five or more years before applying for the scholarship is exempt
from submitting a high school transcript to document the GPA requirement.
Applicants must complete and submit the Promise Affidavit Form online through their MDCAPS account. Click
here to access the Promise Affidavit Form.
Income Requirements
Students
must be within the required adjusted gross income limits based on the 2020 tax
year:
·
$100,000 if the applicant is single or resides
in a single parent household; or
·
$150,000 if the applicant is married or resides
in a two parent household.
Required
Documentation
After
completing the FAFSA or MSFAA by March 1, eligible applicants must
submit certain documentation for further consideration of the award.
MHEC
may notify applicants by email of the required documentation to submit. A list of the required documents needed will
display in the Maryland
College Aid Processing System (MDCAPS) under the Check Application
Status screen.
Below
you will find a list of required tasks that may be displayed on your
MDCAPS account and the type of information that must be uploaded by the
established deadline:
GED Examination Transcript – A copy of the GED examination transcript.
High School Transcript must include 1st semester grades from
Senior Year – A copy of the high school transcript must include all
grades earned up to the first semester (quarter 1 & quarter 2) of senior
year in high school. Report cards are not acceptable.
Final High School Transcript – A copy of the high school transcript must
include all grades earned up to end of senior year in high school. Report
cards are not acceptable.
Community College Transcript – A copy of a Maryland community college transcript that
includes cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) and the name of the Maryland Community
College.
Important Deadlines
March 1: FINAL
deadline to submit the FAFSA or MSFAA
June 1: AWARDING
performed for renewal recipients
July 15: DEADLINE
to submit all required documentation
August 1: AWARDING
performed for initial applicants
Renewal Requirements
To remain eligible for the award, recipients
must meet the following requirements:
·
Continue to be eligible for in-state tuition
·
Annually file the FAFSA or MSFAA by March 1
·
Continue to meet the adjusted gross income
requirements
·
Enroll in and complete either:
o
A sequence of credit or non-credit courses that
leads to licensure of certification; or
o
12 credits at the end of the each semester in a
credit bearing program.
·
Maintain at least a 2.5 cumulative community
college GPA if enrolled in a credit bearing program
·
Make satisfactory academic progress toward a
vocational certificate/certificate/associate degree
·
Participate in a registered apprenticeship
program
More
information on the condition of award.
What
are the Enrollment Requirements?
·
All eligible applicants must attend the
community college located in their county, or in the case of a regional
community college, the region in which they live. Regional community colleges
are: Wor-Wic Community College; Chesapeake College; and College of Southern
Maryland.
· If the community college located where the
applicant lives does not offer the degree or program in which they
enrolled, the applicant may attend any other Maryland community college that
offers the program.
· Eligible applicants may use the scholarship to
attend a community college that has on-campus residential facilities for
students.
·
Applicants who plan to enroll as candidates in
credit-bearing vocational certificates, credit-bearing certificates, or
associate degrees must enroll in at least 12 credits per semester at a
community college.
·
Applicants who plan to enroll in a sequence of
credit or non-credit courses that leads to licensure or certification must
enroll in the next available courses offered at the community college for their
sequence.
Requirements
for Non-Credit Applicants
Any
applicant who plans to enroll at the community college as a non-credit “Continuing Education” applicant in a sequence of non-credit courses that
leads to licensure or certification or a registered apprenticeship program must:
·
submit either the Free Application for
Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) OR Maryland
State Financial Aid Application (MSFAA) by March 1, with the
understanding that that the MSFAA should only be completed by undocumented
individuals who are ineligible to receive federal financial aid; and
· complete the Promise
Non-Credit Application online through the MDCAPS portal and meet all
other requirements for consideration of the Promise award.
For
Continuing Education applicants only,
the deadline to complete the application is a rolling deadline for each
academic year.
For
more information concerning the Maryland Community College Promise Scholarship, view the Frequently
Asked Question (FAQ) Guide.