Students admitted to an LU graduate program*, maintaining good academic standing and registering for the required semester credit hours, qualify for the graduate scholarship in Fall and Spring on a competitive basis. This scholarship also includes an out-of-state tuition waiver for eligible out-of-state and international graduate students who are offered a minimum of $1000 in scholarship funding per year. *Note regarding eligibility: Graduate students enrolled in fully online accelerated programs offered in conjunction with Academic Partnerships are not eligible to receive the Graduate Studies Scholarship.
To initially be eligible for the graduate scholarship, Fall or Spring starting graduate students must register for and complete at least 9 semester hours. Summer starting graduate students must register for and complete at least 6 semester hours over the Summer term to qualify for the out-of-state tuition waiver. Course enrollments must be part of the degree plan for the degree in which the graduate student is enrolled to meet the credit hour criteria. Courses outside the degree plan will not be included toward the credit hour count to be eligible for the scholarship or the non-resident tuition waivers.
For each subsequent semester, students must maintain enrollment in a minimum of 9 semester hours during Fall and Spring to continue receiving the graduate scholarship and/or the out-of-state tuition waiver. To retain the out-of-state tuition waiver for the Summer semester, enrollment in a minimum of 6 semester hours during Summer is required.
Pending on funding availability, the graduate students recommended by their Departments to receive the graduate scholarship will be awarded a minimum of $1,000, and not to exceed $3,000 for master students or not to exceed $5,000 for doctoral students, for the entire duration of study. The scholarship will be disbursed in increments of $500 in the Fall and Spring semesters, not to exceed $1,000 per 12-month period.
Any student who is enrolled in less than full-time equivalent during their final semester must provide a one-time reduced course load request using the Graduate Studies Scholarship Reduced Course Load Request (G9) form, unless the student has completed the course requirement and registered in thesis/dissertation or doctoral externship courses as part of the degree requirements for the remaining period of study. Please note that a student is only eligible for one reduced course load in his/her graduating semester for receiving a graduate scholarship.
Doctoral students who receive the institutional doctoral tuition waiver are not eligible for receiving the competitive graduate scholarship within the same semester.
Graduate students whose cumulative GPA falls below 3.0 are not eligible for receiving the graduate scholarship. Students who are removed from the scholarship recommendation list may request their departments to review their academic performance for reconsideration. Upon meeting the academic standards set by the departments, the graduate scholarship can be reinstated based on the recommendation of the Department Chair in a memorandum to the Dean of Graduate Studies. The Dean of Graduate Studies will make the final decision before the upcoming semester based on the availability of funding.
The department must submit the list of eligible students for the graduate scholarship by the first day of class each semester. If students lose their eligibility but regain it in a later semester, the department is responsible for informing the College of Graduate Studies about their renewed eligibility for the scholarship.
The College of Graduate Studies and Student Financial Aid Office will work jointly to ensure that graduate scholarships and out-of-state tuition waivers are appropriately applied.
No award will be made in the semester after the 12th class day.