Scholarship Policies

CMU Scholarship Policy:

  1. Recipients of CMU merit and talent-based scholarships of a dollar value equal to or greater than $2,000 are required to reside on campus during their freshman and sophomore years unless they qualify as commuting students or for another exception to the Campus Residency Policy.
  2. Students may receive two renewable merit scholarships. Students who are selected for more than two renewable scholarships may choose the awards of highest value.
  3. CMU will limit institutional funds (i.e., need-based grants, merit scholarships, departmental scholarships, employee tuition waivers, Indian Tuition Grant Waiver, etc.) to the annual cost of attendance.
  4. Scholarship option for early graduates: CMU merit scholarship students whose undergraduate degrees are awarded in advance of the maximum allowable semesters of eligibility of their scholarships, and who are admitted to a graduate degree program and maintain continuous full-time enrollment in that program, may upon written request and with the approval of the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, utilize the remaining maximum value of their scholarship.

Non-CMU Scholarship disbursement policy:

  1. Estimated scholarships, i.e., Michigan Competitive, Michigan Promise and outside agency, will not reduce the amount of tuition payable by posted deadlines.
  2. Donors may specify the semester(s) in which the scholarship is paid.
  3. If a student wants the scholarship distributed in a way that differs from what the donor requests, the student will be asked to get an authorization letter from the donor.
  4. If the donor letter does not specify a distribution schedule, CMU will disburse scholarships of less than $500 all in the fall semester. Scholarships $500 or larger will be split with half in the fall and half in the spring.
  5. If the scholarship has been split and the donor has not given instructions, the student may request the entire award be moved to the fall semester. However, the student is then cautioned that he or she may be short of funds for the spring semester.