TWO WAYS FOR AWARD RECIPIENTS TO USE THEIR NCAA POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP

It is understood that the recipient has completed intercollegiate eligibility and/or competition in the sport for which the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship was received. The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship coordinator at the NCAA national office must be notified immediately if the award recipient's athletics eligibility status changes. If compliance with these requirements is not followed, the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship will be forfeited. The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship may not be used until all athletics competition has ceased.

Award recipients must be accepted into a graduate degree-granting program at an academically accredited graduate or professional school. For more information on accrediting agencies recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education, please visit www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html.

If the award recipient does not intend to enroll by the fall semester after selection, the recipient must notify the NCAA national office, stating the reason for deferment of the scholarship and the planned date of enrollment.

The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship funds are intended to be used only toward graduate courses that apply toward completion of the graduate degree program.

• Full-time enrollment. If the award recipient chooses to enroll as a full-time graduate student (as determined by the graduate institution), he or she must be accepted for matriculation into a graduate degree program of an academically accredited graduate or professional school within three years from the fall semester after selection. For example, an award recipient from the 2007-08 academic year has until August 31, 2011, to use the award. The full $7,500 will be distributed to the institution once the completed original certification of graduate school enrollment form has been received at the NCAA national office.

• Part-time enrollment. If an award recipient chooses to enroll as a part-time graduate student (as determined by the graduate institution), he or she must be accepted for matriculation into a graduate degree program of an academically accredited graduate or professional school within three years from the fall semester after selection. Half ($3,750) of the scholarship funds will be distributed to the institution at the onset of enrollment once the completed original certification of graduate school enrollment form has been received at the NCAA national office; the remaining half ($3,750) will be distributed when notified by the institution on letterhead with the institution's official seal that its student has six (6) hours or fewer remaining to complete his or her graduate degree. If the award recipient's enrollment status changes from part time to full time during the three years after the date of selection, the remaining $3,750 will be distributed to the institution immediately upon notification on letterhead from the institution that his or her status has changed.

If the award recipient commences enrollment as a full-time graduate student in a graduate degree program of an academically accredited graduate or professional school before the term to use the award expires, the remaining $3,750 will be distributed immediately once the completed original certification of graduate school enrollment form has been received at the NCAA national office. The full-time scholarship and enrollment policies will apply.

The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship must be used to pay expenses of the student's postgraduate education to include such related activities as research and teaching; other expenses include, but are not limited to, tuition, fees, room and board (including off-campus housing), required course-related supplies, and books. NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships may be used at foreign universities.

If the student withdraws from the graduate degree program before the entire award has been used, the unused portion of the scholarship is to be refunded to the NCAA national office for return to the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship fund.

If the student transfers to another academically accredited institution, he or she is entitled to use any funds remaining of the NCAA award at the institution or program to which the individual transfers, as long as the student enrolls in a graduate degree program of an academically accredited graduate or professional school. Upon certification of enrollment at the subsequent institution, the NCAA will issue the remaining funds received from the original institution from which the student transferred.

It is the award recipient's responsibility to keep the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship coordinator apprised of plans to delay use of the scholarship or plans to relinquish any portion of the award.  It is the award recipient's responsibility to keep the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship coordinator updated with current address and contact information.

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