Scholarship Policies

The following policies apply to all scholarships awarded by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and its schools, colleges, departments, and areas.

Policies for Students

Authenticity

What students submit in the Panther Scholarship Portal must be authentic, accurate, and written by the student.

• Students may not plagiarize, falsify information, commit forgery, or otherwise make a knowingly false oral or written statement as part of the scholarship process.
• No other individual (including family members) may compose or submit any information in the Panther Scholarship Portal on behalf of the student.
• Students may not use any form of artificial intelligence technology (e.g., ChatGPT) to generate information they submit as part of scholarship applications or post-acceptance supplemental questions. The use of AI technology to refine a student’s original writing is acceptable.

Students who violate this policy may be reported to the Dean of Students Office for non-academic misconduct. If the student has been selected to receive a scholarship and is later found to have violated this policy, the scholarship may be rescinded by the sole discretion of the awarding unit.

Eligibility

To have scholarship funds disbursed to a student’s account for a given term, a scholarship recipient must be enrolled in classes at UWM in that term. Disbursement must occur within the semester of enrollment.

Most scholarships have minimum criteria stated in the offer email or the award description in the Panther Scholarship Portal. The most common include a minimum grade point average (GPA), good standing, and continuation in the same academic career/level.

• Grade Point Average (GPA), as recorded in PAWS, is used to verify initial and ongoing eligibility. UWM does not round a GPA; rather, UWM truncates the GPA at the third decimal place (thousandth). When stated as a minimum criterion for renewable scholarships, GPA is reviewed annually following the conclusion of the spring term. Awarding units may elect to review GPA more frequently (e.g., following every semester).
• Good Standing must be maintained to remain eligible for most scholarships at UWM.
• Academic Career/Level: If a student matriculates to the graduate career in the student information system, they are no longer eligible for scholarship aid that is restricted to undergraduates, regardless of whether coursework completed during the graduate career will satisfy undergraduate degree requirements.
  • Note: Students interested in pursuing an Accelerated Graduate Degree (AGD) program are encouraged to discuss the financial implications with both their academic program advisor and a financial aid advisor in the Student Financial Service Center.

Recipients are required to satisfy the eligibility criteria at both the time of recipient selection and throughout the duration of the award period. Recipients who do not satisfy the eligibility criteria for the duration of the award period may have their scholarship adjusted or rescinded in the affected terms.

Graduating Students: By default, students who have been awarded a scholarship for the full academic year and who will graduate at the conclusion of the fall term will have the spring portion of their scholarship cancelled. In rare circumstances, fall graduates may be permitted, at the sole discretion of the awarding unit, to receive the amount initially awarded for the full academic year in the fall term alone.

Enrollment

Full-time enrollment in fall/spring terms is defined as 12 or more credits for undergraduate/associate students. The definition for graduate students varies by school/college/program and student status (e.g., dissertator).

• Concurrent enrollment at another institution may not satisfy the full-time requirement for a UWM scholarship.
• Students in their final graduating semester may request permission from the awarding unit to enroll less than full-time. If approved, the scholarship amount may be prorated to reflect enrollment.

Students are eligible to receive scholarships that require full-time enrollment if they are considered full-time for financial aid purposes at UWM. Examples include participation in cooperative programs (where a student enrolls in fewer than 12 credits) and consortium agreements (where a student takes a single class at another Title IV eligible institution of higher education while concurrently enrolled at UWM).

Part-time enrollment is defined as fewer than 12 credits for undergraduate/associate students. The definition for graduate students varies by school/college/program and student status (e.g., dissertator).

Official enrollment for each term occurs at 11:59 PM on the tenth day of classes (“census date”). Students who do not satisfy enrollment requirements as of the census date will have their scholarships rescinded. If it becomes necessary for a scholarship recipient to drop below full-time status or fully withdraw after the census date, the scholarship may be rescinded. Please see the Rescission and Cancellation Policy for additional information.

Having a scholarship rescinded due to not satisfying enrollment requirements constitutes a break in continuous scholarship eligibility; the current and all subsequent terms of the affected scholarship(s) will be cancelled and ineligible for reinstatement. 

Rescission and Cancellation

Having a scholarship rescinded or cancelled means the student may not receive the scholarship in future terms and is ineligible for renewal.

• Recipients who neglect to satisfy the eligibility/enrollment requirements before the 60% point in the term and as a result have their scholarship rescinded/cancelled will be required to return the scholarship dollars to UWM for that term, regardless of when the rescission/cancellation occurs.
• Recipients who first neglect to satisfy the eligibility/enrollment requirements after the 60% point in the term and as a result have their scholarship rescinded/cancelled may be permitted, at the sole discretion of the awarding unit, to retain the scholarship dollars for that term.
• Recipients who neglect to resolve a financial aid hold that prohibits disbursement of a scholarship by the last day of classes for a term in which a scholarship has been awarded will have their scholarship rescinded/cancelled.

The university determines the 60% point of the term according to regulations established by the Federal Student Aid Office of the US Department of Education.

Having an award rescinded/cancelled will likely result in a balance due on the student’s PAWS account; the student is responsible for paying a balance that results due to award rescission/cancellation.

Having a scholarship rescinded constitutes a break in continuous scholarship eligibility; the current and all subsequent terms of the affected scholarship(s) will be cancelled and ineligible for reinstatement.

Determining Need

For scholarship purposes, “having need” is a general concept that is answered as “yes” or “no” based on the results of the FAFSA or UWM’s non-FAFSA Need Worksheet.

For eligible domestic students, UWM determines whether an applicant has financial need at the time of scholarship awarding based on results from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

For international, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and other ineligible non-citizen students, applicants may complete and submit UWM’s non-FAFSA Need Worksheet when they submit the Panther Scholarship Portal General Application.

Funding Availability

All scholarship offers are subject to available funding; offer values may vary due to the amount of funding or the number of eligible applicants. 

Taxable Income

Scholarships may be taxable as determined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Additional information may be found on UWM’s Tax Information page.

International Student Payments

U.S. tax regulations determine whether a scholarship payment to an individual who is considered a non-citizen must be taxed as income. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) refers to these individuals as non-resident aliens, resident aliens, and non-immigrant aliens. Not all individuals referred to as “international students” are considered non-citizens.

• Non-citizens enrolled in a degree-seeking program whose total support/aid (e.g., scholarships, grants, remissions, waivers, etc.) does not exceed charged tuition and fees in a given term can have scholarship payments disbursed via the student information system, PAWS. In these instances, the student is not subject to taxation.
• Non-citizens enrolled in a degree-seeking program whose total support/aid (e.g., scholarships, grants, remissions, waivers, etc.) exceeds charged tuition and fees in a given term cannot have their scholarship payments disbursed via PAWS and must instead be paid via payroll so they can be appropriately taxed. For this calculation, “tuition and fees” does not include items like housing or dining, nor does it include health insurance.
• Non-citizens who are enrolled in a program that is not considered degree-seeking (e.g., post-baccalaureate certification, special student) cannot have their scholarship payments disbursed via PAWS and must instead be paid via payroll so they can be appropriately taxed, regardless of how total support/aid (e.g., scholarships, grants, remissions, waivers, etc.) compares to charged tuition and fees in a given term.

When an international student must be paid via payroll, the recipient will be notified via email from the awarding unit about the process and the subsequent correspondence they will receive with instructions. Due to the tax treaty between the U.S. and the student’s home country, the recipient may not receive the full amount of their scholarship because it has been taxed as income.

• Note: Scholarship recipients who believe they should not be taxed (e.g., due to permanent resident status) may bring their federal documentation to the Student Financial Service Center in Mellencamp Hall, Room 162, to have their status formally updated in the student information system to allow for disbursement via PAWS.

Students who neglect to follow the instructions distributed to them via email may 1) have their scholarship payment taxed at the maximum rate, or 2) have their scholarship cancelled.

Because of the timing of awards being added, it is possible for a non-citizen whose scholarship payment was previously disbursed via PAWS to later have an additional form of aid added that brings their total support/aid above charged tuition and fees. When this occurs, any awards previously disbursed via PAWS must be unpaid and rerouted through the payroll process to ensure the university remains compliant with IRS regulations. This action will likely result in a balance due on the student’s PAWS account; once the student receives the funds via payroll, they may use them to pay their balance.

Private/External Scholarships

A private scholarship is a form of gift aid awarded to students by external organizations, such as community nonprofits or local businesses. Private scholarships are considered financial aid according to federal law and must be reported to UWM.

• When a private scholarship donor makes funds payable to UWM, the recipient does not need to notify UWM.
• If the donor makes funds payable to the student (not UWM) for a reason not affiliated with UWM (e.g., winning a Rotary Club essay competition), the recipient must notify UWM.
• If the donor makes funds payable to the student (not UWM), and the award is related to a UWM-hosted event (e.g., winning a school/college/department poster competition), it is the responsibility of the department that hosted the event to ensure the award is reported to UWM. See the Prizes Policy for additional information.

When private scholarship funds are received, UWM will add them for disbursement according to donor instruction (e.g., for a specific term or split between fall and spring terms). If no donor instructions are provided, the UWM Office of Student Scholarships determines how the scholarship is applied to the student account.

Because free and need-based sources of financial aid cannot exceed a student’s financial need, if a student’s current financial aid offer satisfies their full financial need and a new private scholarship is reported, other financial aid must be reduced to make room for the additional funds.

When a student fails to enroll or withdraws from a term in which a private scholarship has been applied to their account, UWM will issue a refund to the private scholarship provider no later than 90 days from the university’s census date or the student’s date of withdrawal — whichever is later.

Additional information may be found on the Private Scholarships webpage.

Policies for Departments

When paying a student, it is important to ensure the payment is classified correctly to comply with federal and state regulations, UWM policies, and donor intent (when applicable). UWM makes every effort to maximize a student’s funding opportunities, and, in most cases, it will be easy to provide financial support to students. There will be situations, however, when a department wants to provide funds or cover expenses, but doing so will necessitate the reduction of another resource due to limitations prescribed in regulations for federal aid recipients. UWM strives to comply with the intent of donors when administering funds to students. However, donor intent, no matter how specific or strongly worded, may not supersede the university’s obligation to comply with federal and state financial aid rules and IRS or other regulations. When requirements conflict with each other, the most stringent of applicable rules prevails, regardless of the funding source for payments to students.

How to Pay a Student

At UWM, the most common ways to provide funds to students are as follows. It is important to understand which method is correct for each set of circumstances to facilitate accurate treatment and reporting for both the student and the university.

• Via the Student Information System (SIS). This method is used for awards issued to support the student’s direct education and education-related expenses (generally scholarships/fellowships, grants, awards, and prizes). UWM’s current SIS is PAWS.
• Via payroll. This method is used when compensation is provided to a student for services performed for the university’s benefit (i.e., employment).

It is inappropriate to circumvent these systems to provide compensation or other funding through other means, such as a departmental bill-to request, a Payment to Individual Report (PIR), spend authorization/travel expense (reimbursement), or a gift card.

The majority of institutional funds made available to students should be awarded in the Student Information System (SIS). This facilitates proper internal and external reporting and ensures compliance with IRS rules and the requirement that any educational benefits paid to a student, regardless of the source, be considered in the determination of eligibility for federal financial aid. “Financial aid” includes student loans. All students, regardless of whether they are eligible for or receive federal financial aid, have scholarships of any form recorded in the SIS.

Institutional/department funds for students that are not wages and not loans are considered scholarships or fellowships and must be awarded or accounted for in the SIS. This includes rare instances where a university department is directly billed for a benefit the student receives (e.g., international student health insurance). See the Definitions Policy below for additional information.

When a scholarship payment is disbursed via the SIS, the funds are applied to the student’s account, paying any current or outstanding balance for the applicable award period/term(s). Excess funds are issued to the student via a refund.

• Exceptions, where a payment bypasses the student’s account and results in an automatic refund, are permitted in rare cases. Examples of exceptions include emergency grants, resource-specific scholarships (e.g., for textbook costs), student-athlete support as prescribed in Athletic Aid agreements, and awards governed by a federal/state grant stipulating the funds must be paid as a stipend. Such awards must still be recorded on the financial aid award and disbursed via the SIS. The determination of whether a payment will be permitted to bypass the student’s account rests with the Office of Student Scholarships.

Panther Scholarship Portal

At UWM, regardless of the award name, departmental aid is awarded via the Panther Scholarship Portal, which syncs to the SIS. The Portal is UWM’s universal system for student financial awards issued by the university (as opposed to the federal/state government). This includes scholarships, fellowships, stipends, retention grants, emergency grants, CGSAs, travel awards, housing awards, etc. See the Definitions Policy below for additional information. Utilizing the Portal creates a cohesive, consistent experience for students and ensures the appropriate workflow and data points are captured in the process of offers, acceptances, approvals, and disbursements. The Portal ultimately syncs data to the SIS for disbursement. Read more about the benefits of the Panther Scholarship Portal.

Official offers of scholarships and other awards that fall under this umbrella term must occur via the Panther Scholarship Portal. Admission letters or other communications that reference a scholarship offer should indicate that the official offer is forthcoming from the Panther Scholarship Portal. Departments are required to use the Panther Scholarship Portal for all scholarship activities, including:

• Auto-match awarding
• Application collection
• Application review/evaluation/selection
• Recipient offers/awarding
• Post-acceptance (thank you message) collection
• Scholarship renewals
• All communications with applicants/recipients

Departments must use the standard post-acceptance (thank you message) and renewal questions outlined by OSS to enable University Advancement to provide consistent baseline stewardship services to donors for all awarding units. Departments should not collect additional thank you notes/cards outside the Portal.

The only exception to Portal use is payments related to employment, including teaching, research, and project assistantships (TA/RA/PA).

Definitions

At UWM, a financial payment to a student is defined as a scholarship if the following are true:

1. It is a gift, meaning the student does not repay the amount, and
2. The student is not required to perform a service (i.e., work) for the university as a result of receiving the payment.

The funding source and name of the award have no bearing on whether it is considered a scholarship. Whether the payment is made to the student directly or paid on a student’s behalf by a university entity has no bearing on whether it is considered a scholarship. The determination of whether the payment is considered a scholarship rests with the Office of Student Scholarships. All students, regardless of whether they are eligible for or receive federal financial aid, have scholarships of any form recorded in the SIS.

Note: The following are not considered scholarships and are processed separately from these policies by the Office of Financial Aid Administration.

• Grants offered by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA)
• Grants offered by the State of Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board (HEAB)
• UWM Special Programs

Additional definitions used in awarding scholarships and throughout these policies are included below.

• Award: Generic term for funds for students. All financial aid falls under this definition.
• Bill-To: For entities internal to UWM (departments) wishing to provide funding directly for a student’s tuition and/or fees; that is, the student’s charges are “billed to” the department. Bill-to requests should be infrequent and for one-off, one-time situations. Most payments for a student’s UWM charges should be made via a scholarship item type issued through the Panther Scholarship Portal. The determination of whether an award should be paid as a scholarship or via a departmental bill-to request form rests with the Office of Student Scholarships. Departments may inquire with OSS for guidance and clarification.
• Continuation Grant: A “just in time” scholarship awarded to help a student continue their education, regardless of the funding source or name of the award. This is an umbrella term for many awards, including emergency, re-entry, and retention grants.
  • Continuation Grants are awarded by the Office of Student Scholarships alone.
• Departmental Aid: Institutional financial aid or awards for students made at the discretion of an individual department, usually an academic unit. This may include UWM Foundation or other funds awarded to students by the unit. All students, regardless of whether they are eligible for or receive federal financial aid, have departmental aid of any form recorded in the SIS.
• Emergency Grant: A scholarship awarded for a recent, non-tuition emergent or unexpected student need, regardless of the funding source or name of the award. This award falls under the umbrella of continuation grants.
  • Emergency Grants are awarded by the Office of Student Scholarships alone.
  • Gift cards may not be used to issue emergency funding to a student.
• Financial Aid: All money that a student receives by virtue of being a student is considered financial aid by the university and by the IRS. It does not matter if it is called a scholarship, fellowship, grant, prize, award, or other term. In general, for domestic students, all financial aid is nontaxable up until the point the total aid received in a year exceeds the total of all educational expenses in that year. In general, international students are taxed on their financial aid when it exceeds the cost of tuition and fees. Because everything is “financial aid”, it must be accounted for and tracked in the same manner and place, utilizing the best practices set forth by Student Financial Services.
• Fellowship: Gift aid awarded to graduate and professional students. This term is synonymous with scholarship. Nearly all fellowships awarded by UWM’s academic units (i.e., schools and colleges) fall under this definition.
• Fellowship Stipend (Graduate School): Gift aid awarded by the Graduate School to graduate and professional students. A fellowship stipend is typically paired with a tuition remission/waiver and accompanied by an offer of human resource benefits (e.g., health insurance) and a travel stipend. If the fellow is receiving human resource benefits from UWM but is not required to perform a service for the university, funds must be paid via payroll. Nearly all fellowships awarded by UWM’s Graduate School fall under this definition.
• Grant: See Emergency Grant (above) or Retention Grant (below). At UWM, grants not provided by the U.S. Department of Education or the State of Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board are processed as scholarships.
• Housing: When on-campus housing is provided at no cost or a reduced cost to a student, it is considered a scholarship. The only exception is when on-campus housing is provided to individuals as compensation for employment (e.g., resident assistants).
  • When Housing charges are paid on the student’s behalf by a university entity, the benefit to the student must be recorded in the SIS via a disbursing item type.
  • When Housing charges are waived, the benefit to the student must be recorded in the SIS, either via a Cost of Attendance line item reduction or a non-disbursing item type.
• Item Type: A unique, universal, 12-digit identifier for a scholarship (e.g., 810091010123). An item type is to a scholarship as a campus ID number is to a student. The item type is tied to a UWM billing string, and when applicable, to a UWM Foundation fund account. The scholarship item type is found in the Panther Scholarship Portal (auxiliary fund code), PAWS, and the university’s financial accounting system. When a new scholarship is created, an item type must be created for it.
  • Regular Item Type: Disbursed funds are applied to the student’s account, paying any current or outstanding charges for the applicable award period/term(s). Typically used for most scholarship payments.
  • Bypass Item Type: Disbursed funds bypass the student’s account, resulting in a full refund. Typically used for emergency grant payments, travel awards where the student is the primary beneficiary, and direct-to-students stipends as required by federal/state grant documentation.
  • Non-Disbursing Item Type: Records the award amount on the student’s financial aid record but prohibits disbursal. Typically used for private/external scholarships where the donor has paid the student directly, and for travel awards when the university is the primary beneficiary (and the student is paid via the reimbursement process).
• Re-Entry Grant: A scholarship awarded to assist students who were once degree-seeking UWM students but have not attended UWM for a full academic year and are ready to return to college to complete their degree. This award falls under the umbrella of continuation grants.
  • Re-Entry Grants are awarded by the Office of Student Scholarships alone.
• Retention Grant: A scholarship awarded to assist with a student’s UWM balance (direct university charges) to support persistence, regardless of the funding source or name of the award. This award falls under the umbrella of continuation grants.
  • Retention Grants are awarded by the Office of Student Scholarships alone.
• Private Scholarship: Gift aid for undergraduate or graduate students awarded by organizations external to UWM, such as community nonprofits or local businesses. Also referred to as an external scholarship.
• Prize: A financial award given retrospectively after completing a specific activity or milestone (e.g., winning a contest or competition). Most prizes awarded to students for winning a contest or drawing are scholarships and must be processed as such. See the Prize Policy.
• Scholarship: Gift aid for undergraduate or graduate students, regardless of the funding source or name of the award, given to aid a student’s study, training, research, and education-related expenses when there is no requirement for the student to perform a service for the university.
• Split: How an award is divided over multiple semesters within an academic year. Per the Timing and the Order of Awards Policy, awards should be issued for the full academic year, with the amount split evenly between the fall and spring semesters.
  • Standard Split: A scholarship awarded with an even fall/spring split.
  • Custom Split: A scholarship awarded with a fall/spring split, and the amount is not equal between those terms, OR, a scholarship awarded with a split between summer or winter and any other term(s) in the same award year, even if the amount is divided equally between or among terms. Winter and summer are non-standard terms according to the US Department of Education.
  • No Split: A scholarship is awarded for a single term. Per the Timing and the Order of Awards Policy, this should occur only when necessitated by the nature of the award (e.g., a scholarship for spring admits).
• Stipend: Gift aid awarded to support graduate and professional students’ pursuit of their studies. If awarded when the student is not required to perform a service for the university, this term is synonymous with scholarship, and funds must be paid via the SIS. If offered in exchange for service to the university (i.e., employment), a stipend is considered compensation and must be paid via payroll.
• Student: A person seeking a degree or other educational credential at UWM. A student ceases to be a student upon graduation or official separation from UWM. A student who is not enrolled in the summer but has not graduated is still a student.
• Student Information System (SIS): The computer software (currently PeopleSoft, called “PAWS”) used by UWM to process, display, and store student admissions, registration, bursar, and financial aid data.
• Third-Party Billing: For entities external to UWM (not UWM departments) wishing to apply awards directly to tuition and/or fees. Additional information is available on the Billing & Payments page.
• Travel Award: Gift aid awarded to support student travel, regardless of the funding source, name of the award, or method of payment. See the Travel Awards policy.
• Tuition Remission: When a UWM department pays tuition costs for an eligible student (e.g., a Graduate Assistant). Additional information is available from the Graduate School and on the Billing & Payments page.
• Tuition Waiver: When the university forgives tuition costs for an eligible student.

Federal Aid and Award Limitations

Federal regulations under the Higher Education Act of 1965 require institutions to monitor and limit total financial resources awarded to students receiving federal financial aid (including grants, need-based employment, and loans).

• Federal aid recipients cannot have total resources in excess of their cost of attendance (COA). The COA, therefore, represents a cap on total funding.
• Federal aid recipients with aid based on financial need cannot have need-based funds in excess of the calculated financial need. Financial need is defined as the difference between the COA and the Student Aid Index (SAI) and the student’s Other Financial Assistance (OFA). The SAI is calculated for each student who completes the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
• An ‘over-award’ occurs when the student receives more aid than he or she is eligible to receive. This may be need-based aid in excess of need, total resources in excess of COA, or both. UWM is required to resolve all over-awards.
• Student-Athletes should refer to the Student-Athlete Handbook for limitations and questions about their athletic aid.

All students, regardless of whether they are eligible for or receive federal financial aid, have scholarships of any form recorded in the SIS.

Departmental Funds

See the Departmental Aid section of the Definitions Policy above. All students, regardless of whether they are eligible for or receive federal financial aid, have scholarships of any form recorded in the SIS.

Fund/Awarding Authority: In most cases, when a philanthropic agreement creates a UWM Foundation or UW Office of Trust Funds account to award student financial aid (i.e., scholarships; see Definitions Policy above), the fund/awarding authority shall be assigned to the Office of Student Scholarships.

• Academic Program Criteria: When the award criteria require enrollment in a specific academic program or programs within a single college, the fund/awarding authority shall rest with the dean of that academic program. When the award criteria require enrollment in academic programs that span more than a single college, fund/awarding authority shall be assigned to the Office of Student Scholarships. When enrollment in a specific academic program is not required, fund/awarding authority shall be assigned to the Office of Student Scholarships.
• Compliance Assurance: In rare circumstances, university leadership may assign administration of a particular fund to the Office of Student Scholarships to ensure compliance with university, state, or federal regulations (e.g., emergency grants).
• Non-Academic Units: Other than the Office of Student Scholarships, non-academic departments or areas shall not have new philanthropic funds created to award student financial aid.

Responsibilities: It is the awarding department’s responsibility to monitor expenditures from their accounts including funds awarded, disbursed, adjusted, or cancelled.

• If funds were donated, awarded as part of a grant, or have any spending restrictions, the department selecting recipients is responsible for ensuring compliance with donor intent or other awarding constraints.
• In the rare instances when a department seeks to award a student beyond the scope of a donor agreement (e.g., Memorandum of Agreement), the request must be submitted in writing to the director of student scholarships, with permission granted by both the fund authority (e.g., dean) and University Advancement gift officer.
  • In most cases, it is more appropriate to use a different fund to award the student (e.g., one in which the student satisfies the eligibility requirements).
• Recipients of scholarships, fellowships, and fee remissions should be informed that institutional financial aid will be considered when the Financial Aid Office determines eligibility for funds from other sources, including federal loans.
• In many cases, departmental aid will not impact the student’s other aid when processed through the SIS. If other aid must be adjusted to accommodate new funds, loans will typically be reduced first. Lessening a student’s education loan debt is a positive outcome.
• Processing departmental aid without a SIS entry to record funds or through any other process that circumvents SIS recording could result in financial aid over-awards and potential penalties and fines for the university.

Timing and the Order of Awards

To have scholarship funds disbursed to a student’s account for a given term, a scholarship recipient must be enrolled in classes at UWM in that term. Disbursement must occur within the semester of enrollment.

• Departmental aid (i.e., scholarships and awards) should be awarded according to the standard university timeline as outlined by the Office of Student Scholarships.
• Philanthropic donations must be received by December 31 to be awarded the following academic year. (For example, to award a philanthropic scholarship for 2028-29, the donor’s contribution must be received by December 31, 2027.)
• Scholarships, fellowships, or fee remissions processed after UWM creates financial aid packages may result in a reduction of aid previously offered, so it is best to make awards before UWM determines eligibility for other funds. Contact the Office of Student Scholarships for the dates by which your awards should be made, for new and returning students, for both the academic year and summer to reduce confusion and frustration.
• In nearly all cases, awards should be issued for the full academic year, with the amount split evenly between the fall and spring semesters. Awards intended for the full academic year should not be issued on a semester-by-semester basis; rather, awards should be offered for the full academic year, with an appropriate eligibility review occurring before spring disbursement if desired by the department. When an award can’t be issued for the full academic year due to the nature of the award (e.g., a scholarship for spring admits), awards may be issued for a single term when approved by the Office of Student Scholarships.
• In rare exceptions, departments may receive approval from the Office of Student Scholarships to offer awards outside of the standard university timeline. In these cases, when approved by OSS, awards must be awarded no later than the final day of classes for the term in which the award will be applied.
• Regardless of when an award is entered in the SIS, or when the student needs the funds, aid must be attributed in the SIS to the enrollment period it is intended to cover even if that period has ended or has not yet begun.

Expectation of University Service for an Award

It is not appropriate to pay a student with a scholarship if the recipient is required to perform a service that benefits the university. If the student is working in any capacity for a specified number of hours with campus supervision, scheduling, or oversight, this is employment, and compensation should be made in the form of wages, and taxed as such.

Experiential Learning and Internship Awards

Scholarships may be awarded to support students’ engagement in experiential learning such as internships, especially when those experiences are unpaid or when those without financial support would not otherwise be able to participate.

• In most cases, the scholarship should be awarded to the student at the time they are selected for the internship/experience and follow the university’s standard disbursement timeline. For example, if the internship/experience will span fall and spring terms, half of the amount should be disbursed at the start of the fall term, and half of the amount should be disbursed at the start of the spring term. Should the student no longer be considered an intern (or involved in the experience) prior to the 60% point in the term, their scholarship may be impacted according to the Rescission and Cancellation Policy.
• In rare cases, it may be appropriate to award a scholarship following completion of an internship or other experience. In these cases, the scholarship is considered a stipend and may be applied to a future term. Note: A student ceases to be a student upon graduation from UWM; scholarships cannot be paid to students who have graduated.
• If the internship or experience is on campus and paid, careful attention must be paid to avoid any discrepancy between compensation (i.e., employment) and a scholarship (i.e., financial aid). (Service to the university where compensation is provided is considered student employment; see Expectation of University Service for An Award Policy.) A scholarship accompanying a paid experience may not be awarded by the unit employing the student. Examples:
  • Permissible: The College of Letters and Sciences uses federal grant funds to award a scholarship to a student who was selected for a paid internship in the UWM Women’s Resource Center. L&S is not directly receiving the benefit of service; therefore, it is not considered employment.
  • Prohibited: The UWM Women’s Resource Center uses a UWM Foundation fund to award a scholarship to a student who was selected for a paid internship in the UWM Women’s Resource Center. The WRC is directly receiving the benefit of service; therefore, this would be considered employment.
• Scholarship awards for internships/experiences should never be paid in bi-weekly or monthly installments.

Prizes

Most prizes awarded to students for winning a contest or drawing are scholarships and must be processed as such. The determination of whether the prize payment is considered a scholarship rests with the Office of Student Scholarships.

• When the institution provides a student with funds for a prize for a UWM-hosted event, it shall be counted as a resource and included in the student’s financial aid package. Funds must be awarded according to the How to Pay a Student Policy and Panther Scholarship Portal Policy. It does not matter what the “winnings” are called, what they will be used for, or where funding came from.
• When an external entity (e.g., a private organization) awards a prize to a student for a UWM-hosted event, and funds are made payable directly to the student (not UWM), the award shall be counted as a resource and included in the student’s financial aid package according to the Private/External Scholarships Policy. It does not matter what the “winnings” are called, what they will be used for, or where funding came from. The department that hosts the event is responsible for ensuring this reporting occurs.

Winnings must be considered as a scholarship or fellowship if any of the following conditions apply:

• Eligibility to participate in the contest or drawing is restricted to students and/or alumni, OR
• The recipient is a student who can use the prize for educational purposes, OR
• The contest or drawing is related to the student’s university courses or degree completion.

When the prize awarded can be used for educational purposes or to pay for expenses included in the student’s cost of attendance, the value of the item must be recorded as a scholarship in the SIS. Awarding gift cards as prizes to circumvent the recording of winnings in the SIS is prohibited.

Items that cannot be used for educational purposes are not recorded in the SIS, but value limits must be in accordance with Universities of Wisconsin policies.

If you are awarding prizes to students for contests or drawings and none of the conditions listed above apply, the prize is not treated as a scholarship. The prize is includable as taxable income to the winner under IRS regulations, even if the winner is a student. Consult your divisional finance officer regarding how to pay the student.

Gift Cards

Whether a gift card or equivalent (e.g., voucher) must be counted as a resource and recorded in the SIS as part of the student’s financial aid award is determined by federal regulation. Awarding gift cards to circumvent any other policies outlined here is prohibited.

A gift card is considered a scholarship and must be recorded in the SIS when the gift card is issued on a per-student basis, and the issuing department knows the individual recipient(s) of the gift card. In almost all cases, UWM considers a gift card to be a source of other financial assistance, and UWM’s scholarship policies apply. The recipient(s) must be reported to the Office of Student Scholarships by the issuing department. The use of gift cards must not circumvent the How to Pay a Student Policy. The Prizes Policy also applies.

Gift cards may not be used to issue emergency funding to a student.

A gift card is not considered a scholarship when the issuing department does not track who is receiving the gift card. For example, gift cards are made available en masse in a reception area, and any student may freely take a gift card without the department knowing exactly which students received a card and which students did not.

The determination of whether a gift card or equivalent is considered a scholarship and must be recorded in the SIS rests with the Office of Student Scholarships.

Travel Awards

The purpose of a student’s travel, as well as the primary beneficiary, determines how funds should be provided and accounted for. The determination of whether a student travel award/payment is considered a scholarship rests with the Office of Student Scholarships. See the examples box below for reference.

• Student Benefit: When the student is the primary beneficiary of the travel, meaning the award is related to a student’s academic program, research, professional development, or personal enrichment that does not have a university business (work-related) purpose, the award is a scholarship, and these policies apply.
  • Funds should be paid to the student via the Panther Scholarship Portal and SIS disbursement.
  • When funds are not passed directly to the student (e.g., a department pays the conference registration fee with a purchasing card), or when UWM’s Business and Financial Services team determines the scholarship may be paid via an alternative method (e.g., reimbursement), the payment must be recorded in the SIS via a non-disbursing item type. The issuing department is responsible for notifying the Office of Student Scholarships.
  • Even during periods of non-enrollment (typically summer), university-funded student travel payments should be processed as scholarships and must be accounted for in the Student Information System (SIS).
• University Benefit: When the university is the primary beneficiary of the travel, meaning the award is reimbursement for official university business/work, the award is not a scholarship, and these policies do not apply. Reimbursements for university business are not recorded in the SIS. Consult your divisional finance officer for guidance on how to pay the student via reimbursement. Student travel for university business includes the following:
  • The traveler is both an employee and a student, but travel is in the individual’s capacity as an employee.
  • A student is traveling as part of an externally funded project’s scope of work, for example, fund 144 or 133.
  • A student is attending a conference for the primary purpose of representing UWM by presenting a faculty member’s research or joint research at the academic department’s request.

When there is a benefit to both the university and the student, for the payment to be considered a reimbursable university expense, there must be a documented university business purpose related to the instruction, research or service mission of the university.