CHARLESTON, W.Va. — High school seniors in West Virginia are getting more time to apply for the PROMISE Scholarship, the Mountain State’s merit-based college scholarship.
On Wednesday, members of the Higher Education Policy Commission voted to extend the deadline to July 1, 2021. The extension also applied to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, that was a requirement for PROMISE.
An earlier deadline passed on March 1, 2021.
Overall, Dr. Sarah Armstrong Tucker, HEPC chancellor, said application numbers at that point were more than 27 percent lower than the same time the previous year.
While that was a large number, Tucker said it represented an improvement from the end of January when applications were down by 52 percent, prompting a statewide promotional push.
The decline was largely attributed to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
With the PROMISE, eligible high school graduates can receive annual awards of up to $4,750 in state funding to cover costs of tuition and mandatory fees at public or independent institutions.
The PROMISE covers up to four years of undergraduate study or completion of a bachelor’s degree, whichever comes first.
With a new deadline date set, filing assistance was available through the HEPC’s Financial Aid Hotline at 877-987-7664.
Students have until this summer to take ACTs or SATs to qualify for the PROMISE funding due to testing cancellations and other issues linked to COVID-19.
Gov. Jim Justice previously announced $341,000 in federal CARES Act funding for pandemic relief would be allocated to cover costs for one on-campus ACT.