Off-Campus Scholarships

The scholarship granting organization generally sends the money directly to BYU.

The average processing time is 3-4 weeks from the date the funds are mailed to BYU. To ensure timely processing of funds, please send funds at least 6 weeks prior to the start of the semester. Note that due to holidays, there may be additional delays in processing. Funds are processed on a first-come-first-serve-basis. Processing will not be expedited due to late receipt of the funds. The Financial Aid Office will not hold classes.

Students are notified via email once funds have been received and processed. Due to a high volume of checks, any request made to the Financial Aid Office to verify your funds have arrived will not be granted.

If we receive funds without student information and cannot reach the granting organization, we will return funds.

Hand-delivered Checks

Hand-delivered checks can be dropped off at the Enrollment Services Office (3326 WSC).

• Make check payable to Brigham Young University.
  
  • If you require a student signature, the student will need to sign the back before the funds are put on the student’s account
  • Students must sign the check before the deadline sent to them via email
  • Funds are returned to the granting organization if the student does not sign the check by the designated deadline.
• Include the following in a letter with the check:
  
  • Student’s full name
  • Student’s BYU ID #
  • Student’s Date of Birth
  • How to apply funds to student’s account
  • Any credit requirements or GPA stipulations
    
    • The GPA will be checked when an award is placed on the student's account. Multi-term awards will only have a GPA checked with the initial award. Please send a check for each term if the GPA must be reviewed every semester.
•  For verification, proof of attendance, financial needs analysis, or a statement of charges, complete a Verification Request
  
  • Email BYU Verifications at verifications@byu.edu for questions
• For a completed IRS W-9 form, email Scholarship Processing at ocs@byu.edu

Mail all checks to:
BYU Off-Campus Scholarships
132N ECNB - 701 East University Parkway
Provo, UT 84602

Wire Transfers

In order to initiate a wire transfer, send an email to ocs@byu.edu that includes:

• Student's full name
• Student's BYU ID #
• Semester the funds are for
• Credit Requirement or GPA Requirement, if applicable

If an email is not sent, the funds will not be applied to the student’s account.

Once our office receives all the necessary information, you will be emailed the account information and instructions on how to complete the wire transfer. Identifying student information must be provided with the transfer. Funds that cannot be processed will not be held.

Credit Hours and Payment Periods

Credit hour requirement for off-campus scholarships are automatically set at .5 credits (less than half-time).

Full-time is considered 12 credits for undergraduate and 8.5 credits for graduate students during fall/winter semester.

BYU Semesters/Terms

Unless specified by the granting organization, funds will not be split between semesters and will be applied towards the current semester of enrollment (or the next period of enrollment if not currently enrolled). If you, or the granting agency, wishes otherwise, a written request is needed. Students should create a case and the agency should send an email to ocs@byu.edu.

GPA

If no minimum GPA is specified by the donor, BYU will release funds for students regardless of their current GPA.

Refunds

Off-campus scholarships will be used to pay the charges shown below:

• Tuition
• Class fees
• International Studies program fees (for those attending a study abroad program)
• Housing
• Meal Plans
• Textbooks
• Short-Term Loans
• Insurance

Off-campus scholarship funds that are left over after the above charges are paid are refunded to students beginning the third day of classes of each semester/term.

Withdrawing

If you withdraw, cease enrollment, or do not follow specific guidelines from the granting organization, our office will return funds to the granting organization within 90 days after the end of the current semester. Pending funds will not be held.

Missions/Deferment

Funds are automatically deferred while you are on your mission unless the granting organization stipulates in a letter that funds are to be used during the current academic year/semester or that the funds are non-deferrable. We will hold the electronic funds until you return. If your granting organization has questions, have them email ocs@byu.edu.

Cost of Attendance

For the university’s official Cost of Attendance, please see Cost of Attendance.

Promise to Pay

We do not accept Promise to Pay statements as placeholders for anticipated funds. Funds are not put on a student’s account until BYU receives the payment.

You can donate anonymously to a student attending BYU. In order for our office to process the funds correctly, please follow the instructions provided. We also recommend you review the tuition deadlines for each semester you are sending funds for. To ensure timely processing, send funds at least 6-8 weeks before the tuition deadline.

Keep in mind you are responsible for setting an GPA or credit requirements. If you do not have any, explicitly state that there are no requirements. Here is a template example letter:

Off-Campus Scholarships,

Indicate who the funds are for and any requirements:

Please apply these funds to [insert Student Name and BYU ID number or Date of Birth] and their hometown is [insert hometown]. There are no credit or GPA stipulations. If the student withdraws, please return the funds. (Alternately you can say: If the student withdraws, please still release the funds to the student’s account).

Indicate where to apply the funds. If you have funds that go beyond tuition (i.e., housing, meal plans, etc.) those need to be specified. If you are sending payments for more than one semester, indicate the amount needed for each semester. For example: 

Please apply $1,672 to Summer 2025 tuition and $1,000 to Fall 2025 tuition. The remaining funds will go to Fall 2025 meal plan charges.

Name and Contact Information (This information is strictly for processing purposes in case our office needs to get in contact. The student will not know who sent the funds.)

Mail all checks to:

BYU Off-Campus Scholarships
132N ECNB - 701 East University Parkway
Provo, UT 84602

Most off-campus scholarships are NOT tax deductible to donors. Tax laws state that because the scholarship is being given to a specific student, it is not a charitable contribution (this prevents donors from overusing tax deductions.) If the donor wants to make a tax deductible donation they need to do so through the LDS Foundation; however, the money would not go to the specified student.

Your rehabilitation counselor should mail us an authorization form to pay your tuition and any other charges they cover.

Please submit all authorizations to ocs@byu.edu

We will post the forms in the order that we receive them while we are also processing scholarship funds. It is the student’s responsibility to have tuition paid by the tuition deadline.

If you are sending more than one authorization form for the semester, please indicate on the form when you are sending any new authorizations if it is replacement award, an addition to award, or a brand new award.

If your textbooks are covered, your counselor must send a separate authorization form to the Bookstore Customer Accounts Office at cust_acct@byu.edu.

If your housing is covered, your counselor must send a separate authorization form to the Housing Office at housing@byu.edu.

For more information, visit military.byu.edu.

Members of the Utah National Guard are eligible to apply for Utah National Guard State Tuition Assistance (STA). Eligible members are required to apply each semester and can apply before the semester starts up to three months in advance, but a minimum of 15 days prior to the start of class at the latest. STA packets include a completed STA application, a signed Statement of Understand (SOU), and a course/cost verification (all these documents can be found and downloaded here). STA approval is subject to the availability of funds and applies on a first come, first served basis. Completed STA packets must be emailed.

Please send approved state tuition assistance forms to ocs@byu.edu.

For questions about the Utah National Guard, contact our on-campus representative:
SFC David Eckles
435-275-5743
david.d.eckles.mil@army.mil
220 Daniel H. Wells ROTC Building