Incoming first-year students will be reviewed for Hathaway eligibility when you apply for admissions at UW if
*Some exceptions can apply for Wyoming resident students who graduate out of state for certain reasons. Contact UW Admissions for details.
Students do not qualify for the Hathaway Scholarship if you
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Initial Eligibility Requirements
Need-Based Scholarship Requirements
There are four different levels, or tiers, of Hathaway Merit Scholarship (Hathaway Scholarship) - Honors, Performance, Opportunity, or Provisional. You will initially qualify for a level based upon a combination of your curriculum, standardized test scores*, and/or GPA, depending upon whether you attend traditional high school, are home-schooled, or are completing your GED/HSEC. Students must be fully admitted to receive Hathaway funds, and that requires submission of all final transcripts, including any grades from a Wyoming community college. Additionally, students must also complete UW’s Hathaway Eligibility Verification Form that will be found on your checklist in WyoRecords.
*IMPORTANT! Based on Wyoming Hathaway Legislation, eligible Wyoming students must submit ACT/SAT test scores for consideration for the Hathaway Scholarship.
Qualifying for a Hathaway Scholarship does not automatically qualify a student for admission to UW. Please see the UW Admissions website for admission requirements.
Students who qualify for the Provisional level Hathaway Scholarship must transfer an associate’s degree to UW from a Wyoming community college before they will qualify to receive Hathaway at UW.
Eligible students must apply for, and initiate, the Hathaway Scholarship at UW or a Wyoming community college within four (4) years of graduating. Once the scholarship has been initiated, students have up to six (6) years to receive the full scholarship benefit (8 full-time semesters or the equivalent of 96 credit hours). Students can defer the scholarship only for full-time religious service or to serve in the military, and documentation must be provided of both deferring events.
Students can receive the Hathaway Scholarship as part-time students; however, they must be enrolled in at least 6 credit hours to qualify. For enrollment of 6-11 credit hours in a semester, your award will be pro-rated. Additionally, if you qualify for the Hathaway Need-Based Scholarship (see section below), that award will also be pro-rated for part-time students.
Students who qualify for the merit portion of the Hathaway Scholarship, and who have completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), may qualify for a need-based Hathaway Scholarship if they have unmet need.
Qualifying students will receive a percentage of this unmet need based upon their level of Hathaway Scholarship:
After initiating the Hathaway Scholarship, students must maintain the following three requirements to continue receiving the scholarship. These requirements are reviewed following each spring semester at UW.
Hathaway GPA Requirement
Honors and Performance levels - minimum 2.5 cumulative Hathaway GPA*
Opportunity and Provisional levels - minimum 2.25 cumulative Hathaway GPA*
*The Hathaway GPA is calculated beginning with the initiation semester and will include any coursework taken at UW or a Wyoming community college thereafter, even if Hathaway Scholarship funds are not received in any given semester.
Students who drop below a 2.50 GPA but maintain a 2.25 or better may receive the Opportunity level until their GPA reaches the minimum level again. At that time, students must self-identify by contacting the Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid (OSFA).
Continuous Enrollment (CE) Requirement
Students must enroll at an eligible institution every fall and spring semester after initiation. Failing to enroll in this manner will result in loss of eligibility. Exceptions can be made for students who defer the scholarship for full-time religious service or to serve in the military when documentation has been provided.
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)* Requirement
When receiving Hathaway Scholarship funds, students must successfully complete* a minimum number of credit hours each semester or academic year based upon their level of enrollment as follows:
*Successfully completing a course means you receive a grade of A, B, C, D, or S. Grades of F, W, or U do not qualify.
Note: Hathaway SAP is different from the SAP requirement to continue receiving federal financial aid.
Students who do not maintain ongoing eligibility requirements, as documented in the Ongoing Eligibility Requirements section, will lose their Hathaway Scholarship. They may be able to regain their scholarship if their sixth year has not expired (as explained in the Receiving Hathaway Scholarship Funds section above) AND if they meet the necessary requirements below. Please note that a student can lose Hathaway for not maintaining one, or all, of the three requirements.
If you fail to meet the Hathaway GPA requirement, you can regain Hathaway in a future semester once your Hathaway GPA has improved to the minimum level. You can use summer coursework to improve your Hathaway GPA and regain eligibility if you enroll in, and successfully complete, at least 6 hours. You will need to self-identify to OSFA that you completed summer coursework and are meeting this requirement.
If you fail to meet the continuous enrollment requirement, you can regain Hathaway by completing one semester based upon the enrollment status when you last received Hathaway funds while also maintaining the minimum Hathaway GPA requirement. You are not able to use summer coursework to regain continuous enrollment eligibility, and you must self-identify to OSFA when you are meeting this requirement.
If you fail to meet the satisfactory academic progress requirement, you can regain Hathaway by attending one semester and successfully completing at least 6 credit hours, while also meeting the minimum cumulative Hathaway GPA requirement. You can use summer coursework to regain eligibility for this requirement, and you must self-identify to OSFA when you are meeting this requirement.
Transfer students who previously received Hathaway at a Wyoming community college will need to transfer their scholarship by having the college send UW a Hathaway Transfer Transcript. This transcript is not the same as the official transcript from the registrar’s office, and it cannot be created/sent until all grades are posted from the last semester of attendance. This transcript will allow us to determine your ongoing eligibility to receive the Hathaway Scholarship. Conversely, if you received Hathaway at UW but are now transferring to a Wyoming community college, you will need to request a Hathaway Transfer Transcript be sent by UW.
Transfer students who never initiated the Hathaway Scholarship at any Wyoming institution, but are still within the four years of graduating high school (unless deferring for full-time religious service or to serve in the military), will need to have their official high school transcript sent to UW Admissions, as well as their standardized test scores, so we can determine your initial eligibility.
All Transfer students must complete UW’s Hathaway Eligibility Verification Form that will be found on your checklist in WyoRecords.
Casper College
Online form: www.caspercollege.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/hathaway/transfer-request/
Central Wyoming College
Contact Kathryn DeWitt (kdewitt@cwc.edu or 307-855-2321)
Eastern Wyoming College
Online form: ewc.wy.edu/hathaway-scholarship-transfer/
Gillette and Sheridan Colleges
Online form: www.sheridan.edu/admissions/financial-aid/hathaway-transfer-request/
Laramie County Community College
Online form: www.cognitoforms.com/LaramieCountyCommunityCollege1/HathawayScholarshipTransfer
Northwest College
Contact Dawn Kasinger (dawn.kasinger@nwc.edu or 307-754-6040)
University of Wyoming
Contact the Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid office (finaid@uwyo.edu or 307-766-2116)
Western Wyoming Community College
Contact Financial Aid office (financialaid@westernwyoming.edu or 307-382-1677)
Questions before initiating the Hathaway Scholarships
To qualify for the Hathaway Scholarship you must be considered a resident according to UW residency policy AND meet the residency requirements set forth in the legislation as follows:
Must be a Wyoming resident, according to the following criteria:
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’s degree at a community college before we can award the Hathaway Scholarship at UW. New first-time students at the Provisional level who have already applied to and been accepted by UW should visit with the Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid about their options:
A weighted GPA will be used with the following components:
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’ll 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.
No. The intent of the scholarship is, in part, to encourage a student to pursue your education in Wyoming with hopes that you'll consider 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 national 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 within the four-year initiation period to an in-state institution and begin using their Hathaway Scholarship.
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.
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, re-testing will not affect the level of Hathaway Scholarship that you are eligible for.
Yes. If your cumulative GPA is high 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 on your preliminary transcript, and it qualifies you for a lower level of Hathaway Scholarship from what was originally awarded, we are required by state law to reduce your scholarship.
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 track at UW until you feel comfortable declaring a major.
Questions after initiating the Hathaway Scholarship
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 to determine your ongoing eligibility for the Hathaway Scholarship.
In either situation, please reach out to our office so we can investigate the issue.
A consortium agreement combines your credit hours from two or more institutions. This can help a student meet the full-time hour requirement for several types of scholarship, including Hathaway, UW Commitments, and 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 have to accomplish that prior to initiating the Hathaway Scholarship.
Yes. If you still have remaining eligibility in terms of your eight (8) semesters (or the equivalent of 96 credit hours), you can receive the Hathaway Scholarship as a graduate student until you exhaust your eligibility.
General Questions about the Hathaway Scholarship
No. Completion of the FAFSA is not required at UW nor for to be eligible for the Hathaway Scholarship; however, 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 “budget”, is not a bill but is an estimate of school-related expenses a full-time student can expect to have for an academic year, and it can help a student estimate their overall out-of-pocket costs when attending UW. COA estimates will change each academic year, are based upon a student’s residency status, living arrangements, and in some cases their major.
If you are a first-time student, you should contact UW Admissions with questions on your initial eligibility for the Hathaway Scholarship.
If you are a new first-time student who hasn’t initiated the Hathaway Scholarship yet, but you are considering deferring the scholarship for any reason, you should contact UW Admissions .
If you are a transfer student, you should contact the Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid with questions on your eligibility for the Hathaway Scholarship or how to transfer the scholarship from your previous Wyoming institution.
If you are a continuing student who is considering deferring for any reason, you should contact the Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid.
If you are a continuing student with questions about how to regain the Hathaway Scholarships, you should contact the Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid.
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 times (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. Example: Without the remedial class you are enrolled in 9 credit hours - your Hathaway Scholarship will be prorated to only 9 hours-worth.
Yes. Part-time students can still receive Hathaway Scholarships 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 (6-11) 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 has been initiated, students can defer the scholarship for full-time religious or military service, and documentation must be provided for either deferring events. Other reasons for deferring will count against your four years to initiate or your six years to receive the scholarship.
The Hathaway Scholarship has its roots in Governor Stanley Hathaway’s 1974 decision to create the state of Wyoming Permanent Mineral Trust Fund. The fund’s income would support state government operations - including higher education in Wyoming. In 2005, state lawmakers created a scholarship fund with a $400 million permanent endowment, whose income funds scholarships for qualified students to attend the University of Wyoming or any of the state’s community colleges. They honored his many contributions to the state and accomplishments by naming the scholarship program for Governor Hathaway.
