Deadline for West Virginia high school seniors to apply for Promise Scholarship extended until July 1

CHARLESTON, WV – In a special meeting today, the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission voted to extend the deadline for current high school seniors to apply for the Promise Scholarship until July 1, 2021. Because of challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, applications for the merit-based scholarship were down 27 percent as of the original March 1 deadline compared to the same time last year, prompting Governor Jim Justice to call for an extended deadline.

While the Promise application and Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) are due by July 1, students have until the end of August to earn qualifying ACT or SAT test scores to be eligible to receive the scholarship this fall. With large numbers of national testing dates cancelled over the last year, Governor Justice recently announced that the state is covering the costs for one ACT On-Campus exam for Promise applicants who have not yet qualified. Institutions are working to schedule these free testing opportunities, which are being posted at www.wvhepc.edu/act-on-campus-exams as they are available.

“Our high school seniors have been working so hard to stay on track for their futures, and we want to give them every opportunity to access the support they need to continue their education,” said Sarah Armstrong Tucker, West Virginia’s Chancellor for Higher Education. “With this extended deadline and additional testing opportunities, we hope students and their families have greater peace of mind as they plan for college this fall.”

The Promise Scholarship eligibility requirements, including test scores, remain the same:

• ACT: 22 composite score with a minimum of 20 in English, math, science, and reading.
• SAT: 1100 total score with a minimum of 520 in math, and 530 in evidence-based reading and writing.

The Promise Scholarship application is available at cfwv.com/promise. The FAFSA is free and available through the U.S. Department of Education at fafsa.gov.

For assistance with applications, students and families are encouraged to call the state’s financial aid hotline at 877-987-7664. Students are also encouraged to sign up for West Virginia’s text-message college counseling program, “Txt 4 Success,” by visiting http://www.cfwvconnect.com/txt-4-success/.

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