Hathaway FAQs
Here are answers to some of the most common Hathaway questions. If you can't find your answer here, be sure to reach out to our office!
To qualify for the Hathaway Scholarship you must be considered a resident according to UW residency policy AND meet the Hathaway residency requirements set forth in the legislation as follows:
- A student who graduates from a Wyoming high school.
- A student who is a Wyoming resident, who attended an eligible high school in Wyoming,
but who subsequently graduated from a high school in another state or foreign country
may be granted an exception under the following conditions:
- The student's custodial parent or lawful guardian is a Wyoming resident at the time of submitting their application to UW and was a Wyoming resident during the student's attendance at the eligible high school; or
- The student's absence from the state of Wyoming was due to the custodial parents' or lawful guardians' employment requirements or was necessitated by other conditions beyond the reasonable control of the parent; or
- Neither the student, nor the student's custodial parent or lawful guardian, claimed residency in an other state or foreign country for any purpose during the student's high school attendance; or
- A student, whose custodial parent or lawful guardian is in active military service and maintains Wyoming as the parent's or guardian's state of domicile, is deemed to be a Wyoming resident.
Residency requirements can be confusing. We encourage you to contact UW Admissions with your questions.
Students can receive any level of the Hathaway Scholarship while attending UW; however, per legislation, students who qualify for the Provisional level are required to complete an associate degree at a community college before we can award the scholarship. New first-time students at the Provisional level who have already applied to, and been accepted by, UW should visit with our office about your options:
- How you can try to improve your Hathaway level, or
- How you can maximize your Hathaway Scholarship by using a consortium agreement (LINK) with a Wyoming community college while still attending UW, or
- How you can work towards a reverse transfer to complete your associate degree and then be eligible to receive the Hathaway Scholarship at UW.
A weighted high school GPA will be used with the following components:
- A traditional 4.0 GPA scale is used on most high school courses.
- A weighted 5.0 GPA scale is used for any AP (Advanced Placement), IB (International Baccalaureate), and dual/concurrent college courses (1000-level and higher).
National data suggests that students who take challenging high school courses test better on the ACT and SAT. Better standardized test scores will help students qualify for additional UW scholarships as well as external scholarship opportunities.
Additionally, doing well in AP and IB courses (and corresponding exams) can also result in transferrable credit to UW. This means that you will have fewer credit hours to pay for down the road which will help your Hathaway Scholarship dollars to go further. These rigorous courses will also be weighted on your high school transcript.
Yes. Since students have four (4) years from the time they graduate high school (or before they reach age 21, if they are home schooled) to initiate the scholarship, you have time to take a gap year if you choose. Additionally, students who participate in full-time religious or military service can defer initiation of the scholarship. Both events will require submission of appropriate documentation.
Students who graduate high school in December technically receive their diploma along with their counterparts in May or June the next year. Students can provide a letter from their high school stating they have completed coursework, along with a copy of their final transcript, to be considered for admission at UW in order to receive the Hathaway Scholarship for spring semester.
No. The intent of the scholarship is, in part, to encourage a student to pursue your education in Wyoming with hopes that you will considering pursuing a career here when you are done.
However, if your goal is to get out there and experience a new environment, you should seriously consider taking advantage of a domestic or international study abroad opportunity available through UW! Our students can study at other participating colleges and universities throughout the country and the world for a semester or a year while paying UW tuition and fees.
While the Hathaway Scholarship isn't available to use out-of-state, students who attend an out-of-state school may come back to Wyoming within the four year initiation period and begin using their Hathaway Scholarship for an undergraduate or graduate program.
Yes. Your SAT score will be converted to an ACT equivalent for consideration.
Yes. Superscoring is the process of averaging your four best subject scores from all of your ACT test attempts. Subject scores include: English, Math, Reading, and Science. Any student who takes the ACT multiple times is eligible to receive a Superscore. You will need to specifically request that your Superscore is sent to UW Admissions.
Yes, if you haven't already initiated the scholarship. Since you have four years after graduating high school to initiate the scholarship, you can choose to decline the offer of Hathaway, retest and then submit your new test scores, if they will improve your level.
If you have already initiated the scholarship, retesting will not affect the level of Hathaway Scholarship that you are eligible for and have already received.
Yes. If your cumulative GPA on your final transcript has improved enough to qualify for a higher level of Hathaway Scholarship, you will be awarded that new level.
However, if your final GPA is lower than when you applied for admission to UW, it may qualify you for a lower level of Hathaway from what was originally offered. We are required by state law to use the final transcript GPA and reduce your scholarship.
Yes, but students must be degree-seeking to qualify for the Hathaway Scholarship. If you aren't completely sure about your degree focus yet, you can enroll in the Exploratory Studies degree tract at UW until you feel comfortable declaring a major.
If you are a new student to UW, it might be that you have some outstanding transcripts that are keeping you from being fully admitted and allowing your scholarship to disburse.
For continuing students, it might be that you have outstanding transcripts for a study abroad program that are required for us to determine if you can renew the scholarship for the next academic year.
In either situation, please reach out to our office so we can investigate the issue.
A consortium agreement combines y our credit hours from two or more institutions. This can help a student meet the full-time hour requirement for several types of scholarships, including Hathaway, UW Commitments, and the Trustees' Scholars Award. Additionally, a consortium agreement can help a student meet the minimum requirement of at least half-time enrollment to qualify for either federal student loans or grants.
No. Students cannot improve their Hathaway level after initiating the scholarship. If you want to improve your level by retaking the ACT or SAT, you will need to accomplish that prior to initiating the Hathaway Scholarship.
Yes. If you still have remaining eligibility in terms of your eight (8) semester of full-time enrollment (or the equivalent of 96 credit hours), you can receive the Hathaway Scholarship as a graduate student until you exhaust your eligibility.
No. Completion of the FAFSA is not required at UW nor to be eligible for the Hathaway Scholarship. But we can only determine your eligibility for a Hathaway Need-Based Scholarship if you complete it!
Cost of Attendance (COA), also referred to as your financial aid budget, is not a bill but it is an estimate of school-related expenses a full-time student can expect to have for an academic year. It can help a student estimate their overall out-of-pocket costs when attending UW. COA estimates will change each academic year and they are based upon a student's residency status, living arrangements, and in some cases their major.
REWRITE!!!
Contact UW Admission with question about Hathaway if you are:
- a new first-time student planning to attend UW immediately, or
- a new first-time student who wants to defer the scholarship and postpone initiation.
Contact the Office of Scholarships & Financial about Hathaway if you are:
- a transfer student who received Hathaway at a Wyoming community college,
- a transfer student who was eligible for Hathaway but hasn't initiated the scholarship yet,
- a continuing student who has received Hathaway but is considering deferring the scholarship, or
- a continuing student who had Hathaway canceled and needs to regain the scholarship.
Yes. Students can receive Hathaway Scholarship funds to repeat courses in an effort to improve their grade and GPA; however, those courses will count against your full Hathaway eligibility of eight (8) full-time semesters (or the equivalent of 96 credit hours).
At UW, students can also only attempt a course three time (including withdrawals), per the Office of the Registrar, and your third and final grade will be included in your cumulative GPA calculation, even if it is not your highest grade of the three attempts.
No. Remedial courses (under 1000-level) cannot be covered with Hathaway Scholarship funds. So, if after excluding a remedial course, you are enrolled in less than full-time hours (<12 hours), your Hathaway Scholarship will be pro-rated that semester to a part-time award. See our Hathaway page for a breakdown of proration by Hathaway level.
Yes. Part-time students can still receive Hathaway Scholarship funds as long as they are enrolled in a minimum of 6 credit hours of non-remedial coursework. The scholarship will be pro-rated to the number of credit hours (between 6 and 11) that you are enrolled in that semester. If you also qualify to receive a Hathaway Need-Based Scholarship, that will be pro-rated as well.
Yes. Once the scholarship as been initiated, students can defer the scholarship for full-time religious or military service, and documentation must be provided for either deferring event. Other reasons for deferring will count against your six years to receive your full scholarship benefit. Choosing to postpone when you initiate the scholarship isn't deferring, but be sure to initiate your Hathaway Scholarship before the four years elapse after you have graduated high school.
