About the Scholarship

 The LEO Only scholarship is open to high school seniors whose parent is an active or retired sworn law enforcement officer, or fallen sworn law enforcement officer. Any student in the graduating class of a high school, or its related equivalent, within the jurisdiction of LEO-ONLY, may file an application.  

The Preliminary Application must be filed with Chairperson of the Scholarship Committee, no later than May 1, 2024. Only one application may be filed per student.

We require a Social Security number for our records. If you do not have one, you should apply at your nearest Social Security Office. There is no charge to obtain this number.

Financial need, leadership and scholarship, as well as citizenship, personality, perseverance and resourcefulness are the criteria by which applicants will be judged. Students of outstanding merit have the best chance to win our award. Experience indicates students with high scholarship ratings, excellent leadership qualities and a well-rounded personality generally qualify in the group given final consideration. Of course, financial need is a very important part of the formula.

Maintaining the Scholarship

Scholarship awards may be used for cost of attendance expenses. In order to receive payment, a student must have the school send to our Lock Haven, Pennsylvania office, the completed Verification of Enrollment form. Payment will be made after grades are received, at the end of each semester. Checks are written, payable to the school, and mailed directly to the school. We will notify the student when check is mailed, which will be within four weeks of receiving grades.

If a student terminates his or her courses for any reason, the un-disbursed balance of the award will be terminated. It may not be transferred to another school with permission of LEO Only, and may not be paid to the student personally.

The recipient must:

• Maintain a 2.50 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale the first year and a 2.75 cumulative grade point average in subsequent years.
• Complete and earn a minimum of 30 credit hours in each 12-month period for a student who receives a two-semester award in an academic year. If a student receives a single-semester award, the student must complete and earn a minimum of 15 credit hours in an academic year.
• Remain continuously enrolled as a full time student (scholars are not required to be full time or meet renewal during their final year of scholarship eligibility).

Scholars may use subsequent summer sessions at their own expense to meet the requirements for renewal (see below).

Eligibility for renewal is determined by LEO-ONLY

The academic year for calculating renewal begins with the fall semester and ends with the summer semester.

If you lose the scholarship, you cannot regain it at a later time.

Credits included/excluded from the cumulative GPA calculation

All college credit hours and corresponding grades must be counted in determining Scholarship eligibility, regardless of whether the college accepts these credits. Any college credit hours earned prior to the first semester of fall or spring enrollment may not be counted toward the credit hour requirement in determining eligibility for award renewal.

Credit for a course taken again during the same award year, including the summer, to improve a grade, or for any other purpose, will only be counted once towards meeting the hours requirement.

 Summer Credits

Scholars may use subsequent summer sessions (at their own expense) to meet the requirements for renewal.
If a student enrolls in summer school to attain the minimum credit hours or the grade point average required, he or she shall not receive a scholarship award for that summer enrollment. Summer courses must be completed before the commencement of a regular semester at the eligible institution the student regularly attends.

Maintaining eligibility
Each scholarship program requires that you meet certain basic elements of cumulative GPA and credit hour requirements. As a scholarship recipient, you must be enrolled full-time (12 hours) for your scholarship to pay towards your account each semester (fall and spring).

You are also required to have 30 cumulative earned hours by the end of your first academic year, 60 cumulative earned hours by the end of your second academic year, and 90 cumulative earned hours by the end of your third academic year. An academic year entails the fall, spring, and summer terms. Hours earned via transfer credit, dual credit, and AP/IB testing may be used towards the completion of this requirement. Any transfer credit taken outside of your attending University must have an official transcript reported before the 12th class day of the Fall semester.

Scholarship Probation and Suspension

GPA Process
Each student receiving a scholarship will have their cumulative GPA evaluated at the end of each semester.

GPA Scholarship Probation

If you fail to meet the GPA requirements of your awards for a first time offense, then you will be placed on a semester long probationary period while continuing to receive scholarship payment. You must be meeting the Scholarship GPA requirements by the end of the probationary period in order to continue receiving payment from your scholarship.

GPA Scholarship Suspension
After the probationary period, if you are not meeting the scholarship GPA requirements for a second offense, then this will result in scholarship suspension. No scholarship payment is received while on suspension and future terms of the scholarship are cancelled. Scholarship payments lost during a suspension period are forfeited.
GPA Automatic Suspension
If your cumulative GPA is less than a 2.0 at the end of a semester, you will be automatically suspended from your scholarship without a probationary semester. Scholarship payments lost during an automatic suspension period are forfeited.
30-60-90 Cumulative Earned Hours Process
Students receiving a scholarship will also have their cumulative earned hours evaluated at the end of each academic year.

30-60-90 Scholarship Probation
If you fail to meet the cumulative earned hour requirement for a first time offense, you will be placed on a year-long probationary period while continuing to receive scholarship payment. You must be meeting the requirements of the scholarship by the end of the probationary period in order to continue receiving payment from your scholarship.

30-60-90 Scholarship Suspension
After the probationary period, if you are not meeting the 30-60-90 cumulative earned hour requirement for a second offense, then this will result in scholarship suspension. No scholarship payment is received while on suspension and future terms of the scholarship are cancelled. Scholarship payments lost during a suspension period are forfeited.

Reinstatement of Scholarship
Once a student returns to the minimum requirements for the scholarship, including required hours and cumulative GPA, you may request to be reviewed for reinstatement of remaining scholarship payments by filing a scholarship reinstatement form.
However, not all scholarships are eligible for reinstatement. Reinstatements are subject to funding availability and whether the terms of the scholarship allow for reinstatement. A reinstated scholarship will not include payments that were forfeited during the suspension period.

Scholarship Eligibility FAQ’s

May I submit an appeal if my scholarship is suspended?
Upon notification of having been suspended from your scholarship you will receive instructions regarding the appeal process. The appeal process happens immediately after notification is sent out, so it is important to check your email account regularly for notification.

May I drop a class?
Yes, however, there are a few things to consider if you decide to drop a class it will not be considered complete.

Scholarship recipients must have a minimum of 30 cumulative earned hours by the end of their first academic year, 60 cumulative earned hours by the end of their second academic year, and 90 cumulative earned hours by the end of their third academic year.

A dropped class will not count as earned credit and will, therefore, not count towards the cumulative hours you must earn for your scholarship.

What happens if I have to withdraw from the university?
For all classifications the scholarship funds will remain applied even if you withdraw after funds have disbursed to your student billing account. That semester will count against your multi-year scholarship allotment. Following the semester in which you withdraw you will either be on probation or suspension if you did not complete the required hours for your scholarship.

Will my mid-term grades be monitored for my scholarship?
Yes. After mid-term grades have posted for first year scholarship recipients, students that post below their scholarship requirements will be required to complete a mid-term advising and tutoring requirement. Mid-term grades are reviewed during both the fall and spring semesters for all first-year scholarship recipients. Students in subsequent years will not have their midterm grades monitored for their scholarships.

Conduct Probation Policy
A student is ineligible to receive a scholarship when the length of the probation/deferred suspension is greater than one semester. Therefore, ineligibility may result from a lesser length of probation or deferred suspension. These sanctions imply a serious offense and must be uniformly applied.

If your conduct probation/deferred suspension period begins before funds have been disbursed for the semester you are not eligible for the funds and the scholarship will be cancelled.

If your conduct probation/deferred suspension period begins after funds have been disbursed for the semester you may keep the funds as long as the probation/deferred suspension period is not greater than one semester.

If your scholarship is a multi-year scholarship, a written request for reinstatement must be submitted to LEO Only Scholarships to reinstate the scholarship once you become re-eligible. Reinstatement to a previous scholarship is not guaranteed and is subject to the availability of funds and whether the terms of the scholarship allow for reinstatement. Reinstatement requires that you meet all eligibility criteria including hours completed and cumulative GPA.

The LEO Only Scholarships Board will handle the review of all conduct probation for all scholarships in coordination with the academic colleges and departments guidelines.

The LEO Only Board has  the final say in all scholarship related matters.