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Competitive Scholarship Non-Resident Tuition Waiver

The Competitive Scholarship waiver, authorized under Texas Education Code 54.213a, is an optional state waiver that institutions may offer. In this, an eligible degree-seeking non-resident student who holds competitive scholarships of a specified minimum dollar amount may be eligible to pay the fees and charges required of Texas residents without regard to the length of time the student has resided in Texas. The student must have applied for and competed with other students (including Texas residents) for the scholarships and the scholarships must be offered by a Texas A&M University college or department scholarship committee or authorized university representative. University units may occasionally seek input from an outside donor however, outside donor(s) may not make the final recipient selection.

Undergraduate students must be awarded and maintain competitive scholarships of at least $4,000 per academic year in order to qualify for this waiver. Multiple competitive scholarships may be combined to fulfill the $4,000 minimum for undergraduates; however, no single scholarship contributing to the $4,000 minimum may be less than $1,000 in value. Graduate and professional students must be awarded and maintain competitive scholarships of at least $1,000 per academic year to qualify for this waiver. Multiple scholarships cannot be combined to meet the $1,000 minimum for graduate students, the individual qualifying competitive scholarship must be $1,000 or higher. Receipt of a competitive scholarship waiver, may result in adjustments to other financial aid offers.

The Texas Education Code requires that all male students (both registered and exempt) receiving state funding, waivers or exemptions provide a one-time Selective Service Statement of Registration Status. Eligible students will be prompted to provide this documentation in the Financial Aid Portal at howdy.tamu.edu. This requirement must be complete for the waiver to post to the student account.

Students may receive this waiver at the discretion of the University and in compliance with the limit on the number of waivers allowed by the State of Texas. Students may be recipients of only one non-resident tuition waiver program in a single semester.

Students in self-supporting programs do not qualify for the Non-resident Tuition Waiver for Competitive Scholarship recipients (per Texas Education Code Sec. 54.2002/Sec. 54.545). Because these programs are not supported with State funds, students cannot receive any State waivers or exemptions. The following Texas A&M University programs are currently considered self-supporting: School of Law - Distance Education Graduate Programs (including Master of Jurisprudence [M.Jur.], Master of Legal Studies [MLG/MLS] and Master of Laws [LL.M.]), Law Certificate Programs, Aggie ACHIEVE, programs at the TAMU Washington D.C. site, programs at the Qatar site.

Non-resident distance education students who reside outside the state of Texas pay an administrative and teaching fee in place of non-resident tuition, and are not eligible for this or other non-resident tuition waivers. Students with excess credit hours are also not eligible for this nor other non-resident tuition waivers. Students are responsible for payment of tuition and fees not covered under the waiver and are subject to late payment penalties and late registration charges if tuition and fees are not paid. 

Scholarships that qualify for Non-Resident Tuition Waivers follow this process:

1. When establishing a scholarship account, the awardingUniversity department certifies that the scholarship awarding application and selection process qualifies meets the requirements for a non-resident waiver.
2. University department awards and offers competitive scholarship considering both resident and non-resident applicants, using pre-determined criteria and rubric.
3. Scholarships & Financial Aid requests online verification that each student recipient meets Selective Service registration requirements (or exemption).
4. Scholarships & Financial Aid posts the anticipated non-resident tuition waiver as a resource to financial aid package.
5. Scholarships & Financial Aid shares student and qualifying scholarship(s) information with Student Business Services.
6. Student Business Services’ automated process reads and credits the non-resident waiver to the student billing account, up until the 12th class day for fall/spring or 5th class day for summer.
7. Once the automated process has been inactivated for the semester, late department requests for the Non-resident Waiver for Competitive Scholarship Recipients must be appealed through and approved by Scholarships & Financial Aid.

Timing of the non-resident tuition waiver credit depends upon when the scholarship is offered and accepted (i.e. becomes a part of the financial aid package), when student bills are calculated and when all other requirements are met (e.g. Selective Service). All non-resident tuition waivers are to be posted no later than the 12th class day of the fall/spring terms and the 4th class day of the summer terms. Waivers cannot be applied retroactively.
 
There is no minimum GPA requirement for multi-year scholarship recipients to continue to receive the waiver. As long as the student is making satisfactory academic progress and keeps the qualifying scholarship(s) that meet the minimum dollar amount, the student will continue to receive the benefit of the non-resident tuition waiver for the same academic year (fall, spring, summer). If the student loses eligibility for the qualifying scholarship(s) or falls below the minimum dollar amount required, the student will lose eligibility for the waiver and will be assessed non-resident tuition rates.

For more information or to examine the University SAP regarding this, please view the Non-resident Tuition Waiver for Competitive Scholarship Recipients. See the Student Business Services website for information on other Waivers and Exemptions..