WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., April 2, 2020 — West Liberty University students have one less thing to worry about during the COVID-19 crisis as GPA requirements for scholarships have been eased up.
“To ensure students aren’t adversely impacted with the operational and academic changes at West Liberty University this semester, we are suspending the GPA requirement to renew a West Liberty University Academic Scholarship from 2019-2020 to 2020-2021,” explained Katie Cooper, director of Financial Aid in the department of Enrollment Services.
“Students will still be expected to complete 30 credit hours — the required number of hours to renew their scholarship. This means students must pass 30 credit hours during the current academic year to have their academic scholarship renewed for 2020-21,” she said.
As always, students may use summer enrollment to meet the completed hours requirement if needed, Cooper noted. Summer classes begin on May 11.
“We are pleased to help our students during this unprecedented emergency that resulted in an alternate learning environment for in-seat classes on March 23. Our students have been doing very well during the semester so far and we want to take some pressure off them as we all practice social distancing,” added Scott Cook, vice president of Student Services and WLU’s Registrar.
“All GPA requirements to renew West Liberty University Academic Scholarships will be reinstated after the 2020-2021 academic year and moving forward,” Scott said.
This GPA change is only for Academic Scholarships awarded upon acceptance to West Liberty University, which are the Elbin (including the full Elbin), Presidential, Foundation, Black and Gold, and University scholarships.
WLU will not place students on academic suspension either during the pandemic (following the spring 2020 semester) and all students will be permitted to return to WLU in the fall, regardless of the grade point average at the end of the spring semester.
If a student does not progress toward their degree to remain eligible for financial aid in 2020-21, he or she can appeal the loss based on the necessary academic changes made due to the current pandemic, according to the Financial Aid Office.
The office will contact those students impacted in late May with further information after final grades are issued.
For more information on Financial Aid or scholarships, please contact finaid@westliberty.edu email and 304.336.8016.
