Athletic Scholarships

Athletic Scholarships may cover all or part of the following charges depending on the type of Athletic Scholarship you are receiving. Regardless of the type of Athletic Scholarship that you are offered, it is important for you to understand how they are offered and if there is any additional financial responsibility that you may have. Below are descriptions of the types of Athletic Scholarships:

Tuition
If you are receiving a scholarship that covers your tuition and fees, the amount of scholarship will cover both the tuition and the fees charged for your classes.

For example: A student taking 15 hours in the Fall will have a Tuition charge $2,964 and the fees associated with those classes cost about $1,366. This student’s Athletic Scholarship for tuition and fees would be $4,330 for that semester.

Tuition Only
Some students will be offered tuition only. Using the above example, the tuition for 15 hours cost $2,964. The tuition and fee charges for those 15 hours cost $4,330, but a student being offered tuition only would only have the $2,964 covered by their scholarship and be responsible for paying the additional $1,366 for the fees which were not covered by the scholarship.

Fees Only
Some students will be offered fees only. Using the above example, a student being offered fees only would have the $1,366 fee charge covered by their Athletic scholarship, but would be responsible for paying the $2,964 for the tuition charges.

Housing
On Campus Housing
If you are receiving a scholarship that covers housing and you live on campus, you will be issued a scholarship in the amount of a 4 bedroom on campus dorm. This scholarship will be applied directly to your housing bill. If you choose to live in a more expensive 2 bedroom on campus dorm, your scholarship for housing will cover the amount of the 4 bedroom dorm and you will be responsible for paying the difference.
For example: If a 4 bedroom dorm costs $500/mo and you choose to live in a 2 bedroom dorm that is $600/month and you choose to live in a 2 bedroom dorm that is $600/month, your Athletic scholarship will cover $500/month and you will be responsible for paying the additional $100/month.

Off Campus Housing
If you are receiving a scholarship that covers your housing but you live off campus, you will be issued a Cash Grant equivalent to the cost of a 4 bedroom on campus dorm. Unlike on campus housing where the scholarship is applied directly to your housing bill, you will be responsible for using these Scholarship funds to pay your rent.*
For example: If a 4 bedroom on campus dorm costs $500/month and you choose to live off campus in an apartment that costs $740/month, your Athletic scholarship will cover $500/month and you will be responsible for paying the additional $240/month.

*Note: You will only receive the full amount of your Cash Grant if you do not have a balance due at UTSA. If you have a balance due to UTSA, the Cash Grant funds will be applied towards your balance. If your Cash Grant exceeds your balance, you will receive the difference to assist you with your cost of living expenses. If your Cash Grant is less than your balance due, the full amount of the Cash Grant will be applied to your balance and you will not receive any funds to assist you with your living expenses.

Board
Living On Campus
If you are receiving a scholarship that covers board and you live on campus, the amount of the scholarship will cover the value of the highest meal plan. If you choose a smaller meal plan, you will be offered the difference as a Cash Grant to assist you with the cost of meals that you may be eating off campus.

Living Off Campus
If you are receiving a scholarship that covers board and you live off campus, you will be issued a Cash Grant equivalent to the value of the highest meal plan option at UTSA. Unlike an on campus meal plan scholarship that is applied directly to your UTSA bill, the Cash Grant funds will be paid directly to you and will be responsible for using the funds to pay for any of your off campus meal expenses.*

*Note:You will only receive the full amount of your Cash Grant if you do not have a balance due at UTSA. If you have a balance due to UTSA, the Cash Grant funds will first be applied towards your balance. If your Cash Grants exceeds your balance, you will receive the difference to assist you with your cost of living expenses. If your Cash Grant is less than your balance due, the full amount of the Cash Grant will be applied to your balance and you will not receive any funds to assist you with your living expenses.

Books
If you are receiving a scholarship that covers your books, the Athletic Department will make arrangements with you to pay for your textbooks.

Non-Athletic Scholarships

There are many scholarships that are available. Some are administered by UTSA, others are administered through outside donors. However, all non-athletic scholarships must meet the eligibility requirements as established by the NCAA. Generally, the following criterion is used to determine if you are eligible to receive your scholarship or not:Men’s Golf
Scholarships that are offered with your athletic participation as a criterion for the offer will likely count against your overall team limit and you will not be eligible to receive. This includes Booster Club scholarships.
Academic honor scholarships based solely on the recipient’s high school record and offered independently of athletics interests are exempt from an institution’s equivalency computation, provided the recipient was ranked in the upper 10 percent of the high school graduating class or achieved a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.500 (based on a maximum of 4.000) or a minimum ACT sum score of 105 or a minimum SAT score of 1200.

Scholarships you are offered are reviewed to determine if they are offered from an established and continuing program, if the choice of institutions is not restricted by the donor, the offering organization/donor are not representatives of UTSA Athletics, and that there is no direct contact between the donor and UTSA.

UTSA Scholarships

You will want to focus your efforts by applying for the scholarships that don’t consider your Athletic background or participation as an eligibility requirement.

Outside Scholarships
If you are receiving a scholarship from an outside donor, we may need to contact you to provide the donor’s name and contact information (if it is not provided on the information that the donor sends the financial aid office). To expedite the processing of your scholarship, if you know that you are receiving a scholarship from an outside source, you will want to complete theUTSA Outside Donor Scholarship Form. This form will allow you the opportunity to provide the name and contact of the donor so that we may contact them regarding your scholarship. Scholarships will be reviewed by the Athletics department for approval before they are applied to your offer.

For general information about scholarships, please visit our scholarships page.

Student athletes are eligible to receive loans without the offers accounting against their team limits as long as it fits within their individual Cost of Attendance.

Types of Loans
Dependent Undergraduate Student Independent Undergraduate Student Graduate and Professional Student

Freshman
(0-29 credit hrs) $5500
(maximum subsidized $3500) $9,500 – No more than $3500 of this amount may be in subsidized loans

Sophomore
(30-59 credit hrs) $6500
(maximum subsidized $4500) $10500 – No more than $4500 of this amount may be in subsidized loans $20,500 – No more than $8500 of this amount may be in subsidized loans and $12,000 unsubsidized

Junior & Senior
(60-89 JR credit hrs)
(90 & more SR credit hrs) $7500
(maximum subsidized $5500 $12,500 – No more than $5500 of this amount may be in subsidized loans

Maximum Total Debt From Stafford Loans When You Graduate $31,500
(maximum subsidized $23,000) $57,500 – No more than $23,000 of this amount may be in subsidized loans $138,500 – No more than $65,500 of this amount may be in subsidized loans.

The graduate debt limit includes Stafford Loans received for undergraduate study.

The dates of disbursements for Athletic aid differ from traditional disbursement dates in order to remain in compliance with NCAA regulations.  Unlike general financial aid offers which disburse 10 days before the start of class, we are not allowed to disburse any athletic aid until the first day classes in each semester.  The disbursement dates for Athletic Scholarships are as follows:

^*Although you will see books on your offer letter, these funds will not pay out to your account as other aid does.  If you were offered a book scholarship, the Athletic Department will make arrangements with you to receive your textbooks.  This offer will only appear on your offer letter as a means of tracking the amount of aid received as part of your overall Cost of Attendance.

If the amount of aid that you are receiving exceeds the balance due to UTSA, you will be issued the difference to assist you with your cost of living expenses. There are two options for receiving these funds:

Direct Deposit
With direct deposit, the funds will be deposited directly into your bank account within about 2-3 business days after they disburse at UTSA. You can sign up for direct deposit on your myUTSA Account.

Mail
Funds will automatically be mailed to the mailing address that we have on record for you if you have not signed up for direct deposit. The amount of time that it takes a check to reach you may take at least 7-10 business days from the date that they funds disburse at UTSA. If you prefer this method, please make sure that your address information is current. Otherwise your check will be mailed to the wrong address and further delay the amount of time it takes for you to receive your funds.

It is recommended that you sign up for direct deposit. Funds take much longer to reach you if they are mailed to you since students move several times throughout their college career or their home mailing address is often out of the area. Due to the volume of student receiving funds at the same time every semester, refunds are not available for pick up at either of the Fiscal Services offices.

Certain expenses are not covered by the Athletics department. These expenses include:

• Parking Permits
• Orientation Fees
• General Property Deposit Fee
• Add/Drop Fee
• Late Registration Fees
• Any University Fines (parking fines, library late fees, etc.)

At the time your Cash Grant disburses, if there are any unpaid charges on your account the Cash Grant will be applied to those charges.  This will result in a smaller Cash Grant refund, or no refund at all if the charges exceed the amount of your Cash Grant.

If you have signed up for Direct Deposit, your refund will be process 2-3 business days after the funds disburse to UTSA.  If you are having your check mailed to you, it will take 2-3 days to process the check plus any additional days it takes the check to reach you by mail.  Please make sure that your address is current if you are having the check mailed to you.  The most common delays are when the address is out of date.  It is recommended that you sign up for direct deposit to expedite the receipt of your funds.

You may have selected a smaller meal plan since some of your time is off campus and you may not need 3 meals a day on campus.  If your Athletics scholarship includes board charges and you choose a meal plan option that costs less than the allowance, you will be issued the difference as a Cash Grant to assist you with the meals that you may eat off campus.

Unlike other aid which disburses into your account, these funds will not pay out to your account as other aid does.  If you were offered a book scholarship, the Athletic Department will make arrangements with you to receive your textbooks.  This offer will only appear on your offer letter as a means of tracking the amount of aid received as part of your overall Cost of Attendance.

UTSA will offer you a Cash Grant based on the official allowance for on campus housing and meals charges to assist you with your living expenses.  The Cash Grant will disburse twice a semester and it will be your responsibility to pay your rent and living expenses from these funds.

In order to ensure that your scholarship meets the eligibility criteria as established by the NCAA, additional information regarding the scholarship needs to be obtained from the donor of the scholarship.  Once this information is received it is reviewed by both the Financial Aid Office as well as Athletics to determine if it meets the eligibility requirements.  This may cause delay in your scholarship being offered.  In order to expedite the process, please complete the External Scholarship Form and provide the contact information for the donor of the scholarship.

You will want to complete the FAFSA to determine your eligibility for additional financial aid.   Financial aid includes any aid that is administered by UTSA, including institutional need based grants, state and federal need-based grants, loans from the government, and federal work-study funding.  You may be ineligible for certain types of grants or scholarships since they may count against individual team limits.

The NCAA has established limitations on the number of financial aid offers a member institution may provide to countable student-athletes.  As a recruited student-athlete, certain types of grants and scholarships will count against the overall team scholarship limit.  Whether your Athletic scholarship is for $400 or $14,000, you will not be eligible for any aid with eligibility criteria that would have it count against the overall team limit.

If the donor has already sent the funds to UTSA, we will return the funds to the scholarship organization and provide an explanation as to why the funds are being returned.