Eligibility

Yes! Students currently enrolled in college can also apply to receive an award beginning in the next academic year if they meet all of our eligibility requirements. In particular, we encourage the following college students to consider applying for a scholarship award:

  • Converted their SC HOPE Scholarship to an SC LIFE Scholarship
  • Qualified for a Federal Pell Grant due to a change in financial circumstance
  • Transferred to an eligible in-state college or university

Students who reside in the following counties are eligible to apply for a Meeting Street Scholarship:

  • Barnwell County
  • Charleston County
  • Clarendon County
  • Darlington County
  • Dillon County
  • Florence County
  • Jasper County
  • Lee County
  • Marion County
  • Marlboro County
  • Williamsburg County

In general, any traditional public or public charter high school located in one of our eligible counties is eligible for the Meeting Street Scholarship Fund. Please see our complete list of eligible high schools below:

Barnwell County

  • Barnwell High School
  • Blackville Hilda High School
  • Williston-Elko High School

Charleston County

  • Academic Magnet High School
  • Allegro Charter School of Music
  • Baptist Hill High School
  • Burke High School
  • Charleston Advancement Academy
  • Charleston Charter for Math and Science
  • Charleston County School of the Arts
  • Cooper River Center for Advanced Studies
  • Daniel Jenkins Academy
  • Greg Mathis Charter High School
  • Early College High School
  • East Cooper River Center for Advanced Studies
  • James Island Charter High School
  • Lowcountry Leadership Charter School
  • Lucy Garrett Beckham High School
  • Military Magnet Academy
  • North Charleston High School
  • Oceanside Collegiate Academy
  • Palmetto Scholars Academy
  • R.B. Stall High School
  • Septima P. Clark Academy
  • St. John’s High School
  • Wando High School
  • West Ashley High School

Clarendon County

  • Manning High School
  • East Clarendon High School
  • Scotts Branch High School

Darlington County

  • Darlington High School
  • Hartsville Senior High School
  • Lamar High School
  • Mayo High School for Math, Science & Technology
  • South Carolina Governor’s School for Science & Mathematics*

*Must have attended an eligible high school prior to Governor’s School

 

Dillon County

  • Dillon High School
  • Lake View High School
  • Latta High School

Florence County

  • Hannah-Pamplico High School
  • J Paul Truluck Creative Arts and Science Magnet
  • Johnsonville High School
  • Lake City High School
  • South Florence High School
  • West Florence High School
  • Wilson High School

Jasper County

  • Polaris Tech Charter School
  • Ridgeland Secondary Academy of Excellence
  • Royal Oaks Academy of the Arts and Sciences Charter School

Lee County

  • Lee Central High School
  • Pee Dee Math, Science & Technology Academy

Marion County

  • Marion High School
  • Mullins High School

Marlboro County

  • Marlboro County High School

Williamsburg County

  • Hemingway High School
  • Kingstree Senior High School

Yes! Students who attend any of the SC Governor’s Schools must have attended an eligible high school prior to the Governor’s School.

 

No. Students must graduate from a traditional public or public charter high school.

Yes! Students must be eligible for a Pell Grant. The Federal Pell Grant program identifies students with exceptional financial need and families who are unable to contribute to college costs. In order to determine your eligibility for the Pell Grant, you must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year.

No. You are eligible for the Meeting Street Scholarship if you qualify for any amount of the Federal Pell Grant.

In general, South Carolina colleges and universities that have a six year graduation rate of 50% or higher are eligible. Our current college partners are:

• Anderson University
• Bob Jones University
• Claflin University
• Clemson University*
• College of Charleston*
• Columbia College
• Columbia International University
• Converse College
• Furman University
• Newberry College
• North Greenville University
• Presbyterian College
• Southern Wesleyan University
• The Citadel
• University of South Carolina – Columbia*
• Wofford College
• Winthrop University*

* College-sponsored bridge program also eligible for the Meeting Street Scholarship

Opportunities and Requirements

There are three simple expectations to renew your scholarship each year:

  1. Retain your SC LIFE or Palmetto Fellows Scholarship
  2. Complete the FAFSA renewal application and continue to receive a Pell Grant
  3. Remain enrolled full-time at an eligible college

The SC LIFE Scholarship renewal requirements are:

  1. Earn a minimum grade point average of 3.00 on a 4.00 scale at an eligible college by the end of the academic year (fall, spring, summer)
  2. Earn an average of 30 credit hours each academic year
  3. Remain a South Carolina resident. For more detail, please refer to page 3 of the Q&A from the Commission on Higher Education.

No. The Meeting Street Scholarship Fund is designed to make college access attainable alongside existing South Carolina scholarship and grant programs and is not eligible to be used outside the state.

Yes! If you did not fully utilize your $10,000 Meeting Street Scholarship this year, you may be eligible to receive excess funds to cover billable summer costs (including tuition and fees, on-campus housing and meal plans). In order to access these funds, we ask that you obtain a summer job or internship and apply for summer financial aid from your college or university.

 

To determine whether you have funds remaining for this academic year, please log in to the Meeting Street Scholarship Recipient Portal and view the Scholarship Tracking tool.

Yes! In order to use part of your Meeting Street Scholarship Fund award for summer classes at an institution different from your currently enrolled 4-year college or university, you must:

  1. Take classes at an eligible college or university in South Carolina, including technical colleges affiliated with those eligible institutions. Please review our complete list of eligible colleges included in the previous section of this page.
  2. Provide justification as to why taking this particular course at a different institution over the summer is necessary to fulfill degree requirements or education/career goals. This justification usually takes the form of a signed letter from your academic advisor explaining the situation.

Yes! Beginning in August 2023, the Meeting Street Scholarship will cover the cost of off-campus housing for sophomores, juniors, and seniors up to a set amount calculated by each college as part of its estimated cost of attendance. The Meeting Street Scholarship Fund will continue to cover only the cost of on-campus housing during freshman year.

As you consider your housing options, please keep the following points in mind:

  • We still strongly recommend that you live on-campus, if possible. We agree with all of the research that suggests that students who live on-campus are more likely to succeed academically, socially, and emotionally thanks to the proximity of classes, professors, campus resources, and peers. If you have the option to live on-campus next year, we urge you to thoughtfully consider this option.
  • We will continue to disperse all funds directly to your college. We will not disperse funds to apartment management companies or individual landlords. Once funds are dispersed to your college, your college will issue you a refund that you can use to pay the cost of off-campus housing. Please reach out to the financial aid or billing department at your college to learn more.
  • As you consider your housing options for next school year, please keep cost in mind. Your Meeting Street Scholarship Fund award may not cover the full cost of your off-campus housing.

No. In general, Meeting Street Scholarship award dollars can only be used to cover costs directly billed by your college or university. For most schools, the costs we cover are limited to tuition, fees, housing and meal plan.

However, students who earn enough in outside scholarships and grants such that their Meeting Street Scholarship is less than $1,000 annually, will be awarded a minimum of $500 per semester (or $1,000 annually) which can be used to cover the cost of books and other supplies.

N0. In order to renew your Meeting Street Scholarship award each year, you must maintain eligibility for the SC LIFE Scholarship and the Federal Pell Grant.

Yes! Each summer, our team evaluates each recipient’s eligibility for the Meeting Street Scholarship for the upcoming school year. If a Meeting Street Scholarship recipient regains eligibility for the SC LIFE Scholarship or the Federal Pell Grant or re-enrolls in an eligible college, as specific examples, he or she would regain eligibility for the Meeting Street Scholarship as well.

N0. The annual award for each recipient will vary. Each recipient’s annual scholarship award will be based on the direct costs billed by the college and the student’s funding gap after other scholarship and grant awards are applied.

If a recipient’s annual funding gap is $10,000 or higher, the full amount of the Meeting Street Scholarship will be awarded.

If the funding gap is less than $10,000, the recipient will receive an award equivalent to the remaining amount owed to the college.

There is no limit to the number of eligible students who can earn the scholarship. If more students become eligible for the scholarship, the Meeting Street Scholarship Fund will be thrilled to support more recipients with a scholarship.

N0. The Meeting Street Scholarship Fund currently has no restrictions about what a successful applicant studies or chooses to major in.

The Scholarship Fund is just beginning, and the initial priority is to help hard-working students access the resources to attend college. There may be future opportunities or program requirements for learning, networking, and support available for Meeting Street Scholarship Fund recipients.

 

Yes! You can email us at info@meetingstreetscholarshipfund.org

You may also use the Contact form found on this website.