South Carolina LIFE Scholarship
The South Carolina LIFE Scholarship is currently $5000 per year for a maximum of four years. LIFE Scholars in their second year and after may also be eligible for a $2500 Enhancement.
General Eligibility
A student must be a legal resident of the State of South Carolina who graduated from high school in S.C.; or successfully completed a home school program as prescribed by law; or graduated from a preparatory high school outside S.C., while a dependent of a parent or guardian who is a legal resident of this State and has custody of the dependent, and must meet residency requirements for tuition & fees purposes.
A student must be a United States Citizen or Legal Permanent resident of the U.S.
A student must be full time at the College of Charleston, which is 12 credit hours or more, and working towards a first undergraduate degree. State scholarship recipients that are in their final term of enrollment (their term of graduation) may be eligible for a prorated amount of their scholarship based on the number of credit hours enrolled in for that term, if less than full time. Proration will be based on 12 credit hours.
A student cannot receive a LIFE Scholarship and the Palmetto Fellows or S.C. HOPE Scholarship.
A student must not owe a refund or be in default on a Federal Title IV or State of South Carolina educational loan.
A student must not have any felony convictions.
A student must not have been convicted of a second or subsequent alcohol or other drug-related misdemeanor convictions within the past academic year.
Freshmen Eligibility
To receive a LIFE Scholarship, an entering freshman must meet two of the three eligibility requirements:
- Score 1100 on the SAT or 22 on the ACT
- Graduate High School with a 3.0 GPA on the S.C. Uniform Grading Scale
- Rank in the top 30% of graduating class
Continuing and Transfer Student Eligibility
- Minimum LIFE GPA of 3.0 on 4.0 scale; and
- The completion of a cumulative average of 30 credit hours per year.
This means 60 credits after the second year and 90 credits after the third year.
Note: The number of years is based on the first college enrollment after high school graduation and does not stop for nonattendance.
- Transfer students must have high school transcripts sent to the Office of Admissions to qualify for State Scholarship consideration.
Students who are not eligible going into fall term cannot regain eligibility until the subsequent fall term.
Students must read the Terms and Conditions and accept the award via MyPortal .
All state scholarship eligibility appeals are done through SC Commission of Higher Education . Information can be found on their appeal website.
LIFE GPA
The LIFE GPA includes all* college courses taken at any eligible institution (in-state or out-of-state). Eligible institutions can be found on the Department of Education's Institution Accreditation website. Students can view their LIFE GPA under the Financial Aid tile via MyPortal .
*Remedial, Developmental, or Non-Degree Credit Courses listed by CHE are excluded from the LIFE GPA.
The Goal GPA Calculator provided by The Center for Academic Performance and Persistence may help determine what GPA is necessary to retain or gain LIFE eligibility.
Additional Information
Additional information about the S.C. LIFE scholarship can be accessed through the SC Commission on Higher Education's website.