Scholarships

All money from a private donor needs to be processed through the University of Georgia. This is for your benefit as well as for your donors’ benefit.

If the check is made payable to the student only, we still recommend that it be processed through UGA. Instead of the student depositing/ cashing the check, the student should send the check to the Office of Student Financial Aid and be sure to sign the back of the check before submitting it to the office.

All external scholarship checks awarded to UGA students should be mailed to:

The Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA)
University of Georgia
Holmes-Hunter Academic Building, Room 312
101 Herty Drive
Athens, GA 30602

Make all scholarship checks payable to the University of Georgia. If a check is made co-payable to UGA and the student, the student will be required to sign the check, which may delay the application of the funds to the student’s account.

The external scholarship check(s) and/or documentation sent to OSFA must reflect:

1. Student’s name
2. UGA student ID number
3. Directions on how the funds are to be disbursed, i.e. fall only, spring only, or for the full academic year
4. Any restrictions of the fund, i.e. tuition only, tuition and fees only, or toward the total cost of attendance, if applicable

All scholarships $1,000 or greater will be divided evenly between the fall and spring semesters unless the donor directs OSFA to do otherwise.

Scholarship funds first pay a student’s outstanding UGA charges. After a student’s current charges are paid, any resulting credit balance is refunded to the student by the Bursar & Treasury Services.

When to Send Scholarship Checks

For a scholarship to credit a student’s account before their charges are due, we recommend that checks be submitted to UGA by the dates below:

• July 15 for fall semester
• December 1 for spring semester
• May 1 for summer sessions

Timely processing requires the assistance of students. Students must let their donor know of University of Georgia’s tuition and fee payment deadlines (see the Bursar & Treasury Services webpage). All checks received after the dates above will still be processed, but we cannot guarantee that it will be on the award for the payment deadline. The student is responsible for their account balance on the payment deadline.

The typical processing time for private scholarship checks ready for deposit is 5-7 business days. At peak times (middle of July through the end of September, and middle of December through the end of February), students should allow up to 10-14 business days for the processing of private scholarship checks.

Out-of-date or expired checks will not be accepted and will be returned to the awarding organization for reissue.

All Educational Savings Accounts or Plans (529 Plans) should be mailed to:

Bursar and Treasury Services
University of Georgia
424 E. Broad Street
Business Services Bldg.
Athens, GA 30602-4227

For additional information, please visit the Bursar & Treasury Services website.