WGU - can you "stack" scholarships

[dfrecore]

So, I'm trying to figure out if you can get both the $500 scholarship for taking 4 SL courses AND the "Superhero Within" (or any other) scholarship?  Anyone ever gotten 2 (or more) scholarships there?

[allvia]

No - "Students are only eligible to receive one WGU scholarship per degree program. If a student qualifies for multiple scholarships, the review board will consider each opportunity and select which one to award, if any."

https://www.wgu.edu/financial-aid-tuitio...ships.html


You have to apply for the scholarship(s) but the SL, but it is pretty much automatic if you meet the criteria (transfer 4 SL courses into WGU)

[Merlin]

Allvia has it right. I qualified for multiple scholarships but ended up only receiving one from WGU. Obviously, that doesn't include any external scholarships or FASFA awards you get independently.

Also, note the term of any scholarships. The one I got was $2,000 but that is $500 per term for 4 terms. If you complete your degree in a single term, this only applies a $500 discount to your tuition.


It may also go without saying but the SL scholarship only applies to undergrad, it doesn't work for folks coming in for a masters degree, even if you submit your SL transcripts.

[bjcheung77]

Interesting, did they recently change this, I've been recommending people to do StraighterLine for the scholarship and also applying for other WGU scholarships at the same time. I remember someone or some family member of someone from the forum getting the StraighterLine scholarship and then getting another scholarship at the same time. Effectively making their StraighterLine courses free and their WGU term cheaper as well... If I had to hazard a guess, I think it was Mudball's son.

[Merlin]

Interesting, did they recently change this, I've been recommending people to do StraighterLine for the scholarship and also applying for other WGU scholarships at the same time. I remember someone or some family member of someone from the forum getting the StraighterLine scholarship and then getting another scholarship at the same time.  Effectively making their StraighterLine courses free and their WGU term cheaper as well... If I had to hazard a guess, I think it was Mudball's son.

That has always been the case as far as I know. I asked about this when I first registered with WGU back in 2018 and that was what I was told back then. Of course, I was also told that if I was awarded a WGU scholarship that if I completed all my courses in a single term that I would be reimbursed for the balance, which turns out to be false. The FAFSA awards and external scholarships work that way, but the WGU scholarships are just a per-term tuition discount that only works while enrolled.

Of course, this one-scholarship limitation only applies to scholarships that are provided by WGU. As far as I know, this includes the Straighterline scholarship, though that may be a special case since it seems to be jointly sponsored by SL and WGU, though it is administered by WGU. I qualified for the SL scholarship but was told I was ineligible since it could only be applied to undergrad degrees so I was unable to test if you could stack that with another scholarship.

What I'm wondering now is whether if my scholarship can be applied to a second degree? I should be completing my first degree in a single term but I still have 3 more terms on my scholarship. I'm pretty sure the answer is no, but I should inquire to be sure. 

[Imbanewbie]

I am very surprised; youcan not combine the scholarship. @Merlin, before you graduate and you still have some scholarship left. You can contact the scholarship department to give you the rest of scholarship. In my case I was graduating early and I have left one more semester scholarship. The school honor me the money at my last semester.

[allvia]

Interesting, did they recently change this, I've been recommending people to do StraighterLine for the scholarship and also applying for other WGU scholarships at the same time. I remember someone or some family member of someone from the forum getting the StraighterLine scholarship and then getting another scholarship at the same time.  Effectively making their StraighterLine courses free and their WGU term cheaper as well... If I had to hazard a guess, I think it was Mudball's son.

I believe the additional scholarship you're thinking of was awarded outside the WGU scholarship offerings.  You can only be awarded 1 WGU sponsored scholarship; however, if you were awarded a 'local' (not WGU affiliated) scholarship then that money could be used towards your tuition as well.  Most of those types of scholarships are awarded to recent HS graduates, and many are flat amount freshman year awards - but not all (there are adult learner awards too). It would make it worth looking into non-WGU scholarship programs to further reduce the costs of WGU tuition.

In example: if you received the WGU-SL scholarship for $2000 ($500 per term), and you were award a scholarship from you hometown credit union for $600, and also were awarded an obscure one (such as the Zombie Apocalypse Scholarship; it's real) for $1000 - then you would be able to apply them all towards reducing your first term tuition by $2100.

[Merlin]

I am very surprised; youcan not combine the scholarship. @Merlin, before you graduate and you still have some scholarship left. You can contact the scholarship department to give you the rest of scholarship. In my case I was graduating early and I have left one more semester scholarship. The school honor me the money at my last semester.

Yes, that is how normal scholarships work. However, the WGU "scholarships" are not true scholarships. They don't represent a dollar award to support your academic expenses, they are really just a tuition discount that is provided by the school for a certain number of terms. So if you graduate or withdraw from the school, that tuition discount goes away (no longer relevant) and they don't refund any balance remaining that hasn't been used.

What isn't clear is whether I can retain the balance of my scholarship if I were to immediately come back for a second degree. I don't think I'd come back just for a $500 per-term discount, but I am considering coming back for the MS in Data Analytics (or the MSML, though a second master's degree in business seems wasteful, despite only requiring like 6 more classes to complete).