The State of Wyoming has established a generous scholarship program, in the name of former Wyoming Governor Stan Hathaway, that rewards eligible resident students with scholarship money to attend the University of Wyoming or a Wyoming community college.
Incoming first-year students will be reviewed for Hathaway eligibility when you apply for admissions at UW, and you will qualify for the scholarship if:
*Some exceptions can apply for Wyoming resident students who graduate out of state for certain reasons. See our FAQs section below or contact UW Admissions for details.
A student will not qualify for the scholarship if:
Select from the buttons below to navigate to each section on this page.
Initial Eligibility Requirements
Need-Based Scholarship Requirements
There are four different levels of the Hathaway Scholarship, determined by a combination of your curriculum, standardized test scores*, and/or GPA. Different initial eligibility requirements exist for high school graduates, home school graduates, and HESC graduates. Note: Students who qualify for the Provisional level of Hathaway must transfer an associate degree to UW from a community college before they will qualify to receive the remainder of their Hathaway Scholarship at UW.
Students must be fully admitted to UW in order to receive Hathaway funds, and that requires submission of all final transcripts, including any courses taken at a Wyoming community college. Additionally, students must also complete UW’s Hathaway Eligibility Verification Form that will be found on your checklist in WyoRecords.
Qualifying for a Hathaway Scholarship does not automatically qualify a student for admission to UW. Please see the UW Admissions website for admission requirements.
*IMPORTANT! Based on Wyoming Hathaway Legislation, ACT or SAT test scores are still required to determine eligibility for the Hathaway Scholarship. The ACT Superscore can be used.
Eligible students must apply for, and initiate, the Hathaway Scholarship at UW or a Wyoming community college within a certain timeframe (four [4] years of graduating from high school or HSEC, or by their 21st birthday [homeschool graduates]). 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. Incoming first-year students or incoming transfer students to complete Admissions' deferral form. Continuing students need to communicate directly with our office regarding the deferral request.
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 as shown in the table below. Additionally, if you qualify for the Hathaway Need-Based Scholarship (see section below), that award will also be pro-rated for part-time students, based upon their number of credit hours.
| Credit Hours | Honors Level Award $ per Semester |
Performance Level Award $ per Semester |
Opportunity or Provisional Levels Award $ per Semester |
| 12 or more | $1,680 | $1,260 | $840 |
| 11 | $1,540 | $1,155 | $770 |
| 10 | $1,400 | $1,050 | $700 |
| 9 | $1,260 | $945 | $630 |
| 8 | $1,120 | $840 | $560 |
| 7 | $980 | $735 | $490 |
| 6 | $840 | $630 | $420 |
Students who qualify for the Hathaway Scholarship, and who have completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), may qualify for an additional Hathaway Need-Based Scholarship if they have unmet need, as determined by the FAFSA. Unmet need is calculated as follows:
UW Cost of Attendance (COA)
LESS Student Aid Index (SAI)*, as determined by FAFSA
LESS Hathaway Scholarship awarded
LESS Grants and other scholarships awarded, including external scholarships
LESS $2,000 student commitment required by Wyoming Hathaway Legislation
EQUALS Unmet Need
*Negative SAIs will be considered zero (0) for the purposes of this unmet need calculation
Qualifying students will receive a percentage of this unmet need based upon their level of Hathaway Scholarship.
Performance, Opportunity, or Provisional levels: 25% of unmet need. The minimum award will be $105 per semester or a maximum of $787.50 per semester.
Honors level: 100% of unmet need.
Students must be eligible for Hathaway Scholarship in order to qualify to receive a Hathaway Need-Based Scholarship in any semester or academic year.
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.
1. Hathaway GPA Requirement
Hathaway GPA is different from your institutional or overall 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 scholarships funds are not received in any given semester.
Honors and Performance levels* - minimum 2.5 cumulative Hathaway GPA
Opportunity and Provisional levels - minimum 2.25 cumulative Hathaway GPA
*A student who drops below a 2.50 GPA but maintains a 2.25 or better may receive the Opportunity level until your GPA reaches the minimum level again. At that time, you must self-identify by contacting the Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid (OSFA).
2. Continuous Enrollment (CE) Requirement
Students must enroll at an eligible Wyoming institution every fall and spring semester after initiating the scholarship. 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.
3. 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 your 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 the three 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 ongoing eligibility 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 our office 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 our office 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 our office 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 ask our office to send a Hathaway Transfer Transcript to the other institution.
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
Central Wyoming College: Contact Kathryn DeWitt (kdewitt@cwc.edu or 307-855-2321)
Eastern Wyoming College: Online form
Gillette and Sheridan Colleges: Online form
Laramie County Community College: Online form
Northwest College: Contact Maureen Walsh (maureen.walsh@nwc.edu or 307-754-6270)
University of Wyoming: Contact the Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid (finaid@uwyo.edu or 307-766-2116)
Western Wyoming Community College: Contact the 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 Hathaway residency requirements set forth in the legislation as follows:
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.
General Questions about the Hathaway Scholarship
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.
