Since its creation in 2004, the Tennessee HOPE Lottery Scholarship program has provided several UTM students with means of financial aid; however, the number of UTM lottery scholarships has diminished since the beginning of the Fall 2005 semester.

The Tennessee lottery scholarship program has proven to be successful in less than two years, and many UTM students have received the benefits of its achievements.

University Relations Director Bud Grimes said that 894 students received the first UTM Tennessee Hope Lottery Scholarships in Fall 2004. However, when the first eligibility review was conducted before the Fall 2005 semester, 388 of those students lost their lottery scholarships.

“The main reason students lose their scholarships is the GPA requirement,” said Student Financial Aid Director Sandra Neel.

The lottery GPA requirement of 2.75 is to be maintained after 24 hours are attempted; however, a 3.0 lottery GPA must be maintained after 48, 72, 96, or 120 hours are attempted.

Grimes also said other students lost their scholarships because they did not maintain continuous enrollment.

Students must obtain permission from the Office of Academic Records before dropping a class or obtain permission from the Division of Student Affairs before withdrawing from the university in order to maintain their lottery scholarships under non-continuous enrollment.

There are ways to regain your scholarship thanks to recent legislation. Students can do this by repeating a course and have the new grade counted for the lottery GPA; however, both credit hours will count when determining the number of hours attempted for the lottery scholarship. Students can also regain their lottery scholarships by raising their lottery GPA. It is important to remember, however, that these two options are one-time-only opportunities.

If students are interested in regaining their scholarship, they should contact the Financial Aid Office at 731-881-7040.

While opportunities eist to regain the lottery scholarship, students should not solely rely on them according to the Office of Financial Aid. Students need to be proactive and try to prevent themselves from losing the lottery scholarship at all, the officials said.

The next eligibility review will soon begin for the 919 current Tennessee HOPE Lottery Scholarship recipients.