Academic and collegiate scholarships that are available at WKU are posted on the Department of Student Financial Assistance's website located at https://www.wku.edu/financialaid/scholarships/. The WKU Scholarship Program provides freshmen and transfer awards to new undergraduate students who have achieved high academic standards. These scholarships are based upon academic merit and potential for superior achievement in college, not on financial need.

Collegiate units award academic scholarships annually to both new and continuing students. Information on these scholarships is available on the Department of Student Financial Assistance's website located at https://www.wku.edu/financialaid/scholarships/ or from the applicable collegiate unit scholarship coordinator.

Students interested in seeking a private grant or scholarship should check as many sources as possible including high school guidance offices, local clubs and civic organizations, businesses, employers, church groups, public libraries, alumni organizations and financial institutions. There are several web sites, such as FastWeb, that provide scholarship search services free of charge. In addition, public libraries are an excellent source of information on private scholarships. Many scholarships are not based on need, but rather on academic or other achievement. 

READ THE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS of the scholarships you are interested in FIRST. Save yourself time and energy by not applying for scholarships with qualifications you don’t match. If you meet the basic requirements for an award, APPLY! Apply to as many sources as possible. Be complete and concise, but also creative. Apply as far in advance as possible. Avoid spelling and grammatical errors; have someone else read and proofread your application before you send it off. Always apply for need-based financial aid first. Universities would love to award EVERY deserving student, but limited scholarship dollars make this impossible.

No. Only Composite ACT/SAT scores can be used for awards that require specific test scores. 

KEES money isn't received until mid-September for Fall and mid-February for Spring. We submit enrollment to KHEAA after the 100% drop/add. They have to verify enrollment before the money is released. The University knows this and will wait for these funds if they are being used to pay your bill. 

The Teacher Scholarship will not change to an Accept until we receive the funds. All you need to do is be sure you have signed and returned the promissory note for the scholarship. Keep checking your TopNet account, and when the money comes to WKU, your offer will change to an Accept. 

Yes. If you are receiving any kind of financial aid from university or outside sources, you must report the scholarship to the financial aid office. Unfortunately, the university will adjust your financial aid package to compensate. Nevertheless, the outside scholarship will have some beneficial effects. At WKU, outside scholarships are used to replace loans instead of grants. 

Private donor scholarship checks may be dropped off in person by the student (be sure to endorse if a joint check) in Potter Hall, Third Floor, or mailed to:

Western Kentucky University
Student Financial Assistance
ATTN: Scholarships
1906 College Heights Blvd. #11018
Bowling Green, KY 42101-1018 

Possibly. Each student who applies for aid is eligible for a certain amount according to their financial circumstances and educational costs. If an outside scholarship results in you receiving more aid than the federal processor indicates you are eligible to receive, you may lose other aid. This will depend upon the type of other aid you are receiving. If you receive an outside scholarship, check with your financial aid adviser to find out how or if it will affect your total package. 

This question comes up frequently, because the popular press and scholarship matching services like to use it as an example of unusual scholarships. The only scholarship for left-handed students is the Frederick and Mary F. Beckley Scholarship of up to $1,000. This scholarship is awarded to left-handed students who will be attending Juniata College. This scholarship is not available to students who aren’t enrolled at Juniata College. For more information, write to Office of Student Financial Planning, Juniata College, 1700 Moore Street, Huntington, PA 16652.  FinAid also has a scholarship website devoted to students with specific interests or abilities.

For instructions on how to accept a WKU Scholarship, please click here .

You have five years after your high school graduation to utilize your 8 semesters worth of KEES eligibility before it expires.

At the end of a student’s first year of receiving KEES, he/she would need to have at least a 2.5 GPA to retain full KEES eligibility for the following year.

In certain instances, yes. If a student has a 3.0 GPA, then we do not look to see if the student is “on-track.” Instead, the student will get his/her full KEES award based on the credit hours enrolled.

If a student has a 2.5-2.99 GPA and is not "on-track," the student could potentially receive 50% of original KEES award if he/she is enrolled full-time.

These are the only two instances a student can receive a KEES award while not meeting the "on-track" requirement.

If a student loses his/her KEES eligibility when grades are checked at the end of each Spring semester, then the student would lose it for the entire following academic year. A student can regain his/her eligibility as long as his/her KEES award has not yet expired.

The student will need to send an email to fa.kees@wku.edu if the student believes that he/she now meets the requirements and has regained eligibility for his/her KEES award. This is because GPA information is only sent to KHEAA for students that have received a KEES disbursement during the current academic year.

No, the only exception is if that school participates in the “Academic Common Market” (ACM). In order to determine this, you would need to check with KHEAA.

No, KHEAA will only disburse KEES for the semester in which you are attending. If you won’t be eligible the next semester due to graduating early, then you lose that semester.

You would need to check with KHEAA in regards to an extension; typically only granted to students in the military who were deployed.

No, your overall GPA and hours at the end of the Spring semester determines your eligibility for the next academic year. Likewise, if you’re currently eligible and your GPA goes down below a 2.5 after Fall, you will not lose eligibility in the Spring. 

No, summer courses would not affect next year’s eligibility. Eligibility is determined by your overall GPA and hours at the end of each Spring semester. Your summer courses wouldn’t affect your eligibility until the following Spring.

Yes, since you have five years from the date of your high school graduation to utilize your award, you can choose not to be paid your KEES anytime. You would need to email fa.kees@wku.edu

As long as you are admitted into WKU as a Kentucky resident, you will be eligible to receive your KEES award. If you are admitted as anything other than a Kentucky resident, you will not be eligible.

Most likely you did not fill out a Consortium Agreement with the Department of Student Financial Assistance. KEES can only be paid at one school which is your home school.  So, in order to count all your hours between both schools, you must fill out the Consortium Agreement that can be found in TopNet under the Financial Aid tab.

Either you registered for another class that brought you to a full-time status after the enrollment file was sent to KHEAA OR you are taking an On Demand course that is bringing you to full-time.

If you registered for another class that brought you to a full-time status after the enrollment file was sent to KHEAA, you will need to contact fa.kees@wku.edu

However, in order to receive the full amount of KEES when an On Demand course brings you to full-time, you must fill out the On Demand Financial Aid Agreement.