Scholarships Frequently Asked Questions

What can the scholarship money be used for?

The $6,000 scholarship check that gets sent directly to your school can only be used for tuition, school supplies, or books for the fall 2024 academic term. Unused funds from the fall 2024 academic term may then be used during the remaining 2024-2025 academic year (winter 2025, spring 2025, summer 2025 semester; if applicable). It is the responsibility of the school to hold these funds in the F.B.O (For the Benefit Of) account for the student. Please note that school supplies and books must be purchased through your school to use your scholarship funds.

Can the scholarship funds be used towards past tuition expenses?

The 2024 Resident Scholarship funds awarded to the recipient’s school may only be used for the 2023-2024 academic year for tuition, school supplies, and books. Funds may not be used towards past due balances before the 2024-2025 academic year.

Can I choose which semester in the 2024-2025 academic year to use the scholarship for?

If you receive the 2024 resident scholarship, it must be used for the fall 2024 semester. If there are funds remaining after the fall 2024 semester, you are allowed to roll those extra funds over to the winter 2025 semester, spring 2025 semester, and/or summer 2025 semester. If you choose to do so, please notify your financial aid office of your academic plans. If your school accidentally returns the remaining scholarship funds that you intended on using for the remainder of the 2024-2025 academic year, contact us at scholarship@housingcenter.com as soon as possible so that we can return the funds to your F.B.O. account. Important: Your school will be notified to return any remaining funds after the summer 2025 semester to us no later than September 1, 2025.

If there is remaining money from my scholarship left over at the end of the fall 2024 semester, what will happen to that money?

If there are funds remaining after the fall 2024 semester, you are allowed to roll those extra funds over to the winter 2025 semester, 2025 spring semester, and/or summer 2025 semester. If you chose to do so, please notify your financial aid office of your academic plans. If your school accidentally returns the remaining scholarship funds that you intended on using for the remainder of the 2024-2025 academic year, contact us at scholarship@housingcenter.com as soon as possible so that we can return the funds to your F.B.O account. Important: Your school will be notified to return any remaining funds after the summer 2025 semester to us no later than September 1, 2025.

Will I be notified if I'm not selected to receive a scholarship after submitting my entry form?

Yes, once we have officially selected all 20 scholarship recipients for a given year, we will send an email (around July 2024) to all applicants to notify them that the scholarship program has officially closed.

What is the application process for this program?

• Step 1 - Fill out and submit an application - Go to our website to access our online application. You will be required to enter your name, address, contact information, and the name of the housing agency that your residence is tied to. Once you fill in all required fields and attach all required documents, you will receive a confirmation email to confirm we have received your application.
  • Important forms to note: You must fill out the "affidavit form" as the applicant; however if you are under 18, you will need to have your guardian sign off on this form. Be sure to scan and include all pages when submitting this document. The "proof of residency form" must be filled out by an FSSC or resident services coordinator at the housing agency of the applicant.
• Step 2: Selection of recipients - We will only accept complete applications of eligible participants to enter our drawing to receive a scholarship. The number of new scholarship recipients out of the 20 available scholarships will be based upon how many scholarships are awarded to previous recipients (those individuals have the opportunity to receive this scholarship for up to four consecutive years). For new applicants, they will be selected via a random drawing by and authorized employee at HAI Group.
• Step 3: Notification - Potential recipients will be contacted via email if they have been selected. At that time, we may require additional information such as a proof of enrollment form from the school that you will be attending in the fall. If we are unable to contact you for any reason, it will be deemed that you rejected the scholarship and a new potential recipient will be picked.
• Step 4: Award and payment: If you are selected as a potential recipient and all of the required document(s) are received within the specific timeframe; you will become an official recipient of a $6,000 scholarship that can be used for the fall 2024 academic term (and if funds remain after the fall 2024 term, they may be used during the remaining 2024-2025 academic year (winter 2025, spring 2025, and summer 2025 semesters; if applicable) and it is the responsibility of the school to hold these funds in the F.B.O (For the Benefit Of) account for the student. Payment will be sent directly to your college or institute from HAI Group. Once all recipients are confirmed, applicants who did not receive a scholarship will be notified via email.

Can I receive a paper copy of the application?

No, you can only apply to this scholarship program using our online application. If you do not have access to a computer, we recommend visiting your local library or meet with your FSSC or resident services coordinator to locate available resources.

Does this scholarship program require me to write an essay with my application?

No, we do not require any written essay or long-form question responses as part of the application for this scholarship program.

How many times can I apply for this scholarship?

You are only allowed to apply to our scholarship program one time per year. If you submit multiple applications, we will only accept your first submission in our drawing. If you are selected as an official recipient, you may be eligible to receive the scholarship for up to four consecutive years.

What are the eligibility requirements to apply for this scholarship?

To be eligible to apply, you must be a legal citizen of the United States or be a permanent resident in the United States (with a green card) and live (by the date that you submit your application) in a public housing authority or a property with a Housing Choice Voucher administered by a housing authority that is insured by HAI Group. If you are unsure if HAI Group insures your property, contact us at scholarship@housingcenter.com. Lastly, to be eligible, you also must be attending one of the following institutions in the fall of 2024:

• Accredited or licensed technical school
• Two-year college or university
• Four-year college or university
• Master's degree or PhD program

Is there a GPA requirement or any other academic requirements that I need to meet to apply for this scholarship?

No, we do not have a GPA requirement, and we do not have any academic requirements that you must meet to be eligible to apply for this scholarship. We also do not require a transcript or essay to apply for this scholarship.

If I am selected as a recipient of a scholarship this year but then move to a new residence next year, will I still be eligible to receive the scholarship for up to four consecutive years? Or, do I need to be living in the same residence for all four years?

We only require proof of residency the first year you apply. Therefore, after you receive the scholarship for the first year, if at any time you move to a different property or move out of public or assisted housing, you are still eligible to receive the scholarship for up to four consecutive years.

Note: For the first year you apply, you must reside in a housing authority or in a property with a housing choice voucher (HCV) administered by a housing authority that is a member of Housing Authority Risk Retention Group, Inc. (HARRG) or Housing Authority Property Insurance, A Mutual Company (HAPI) or live in an affordable housing property insured by Housing Enterprise Insurance Company, Inc. (HEIC) on the date of the drawing to be eligible.

Is there an age restriction to apply?

As long as you are attending an accredited or licensed technical school, or a two-year or four-year college or university in the fall of 2023, you can apply. If you are under 18 at the time of applying, you will need your guardian to sign the affidavit form as part of the application. Our past scholarship recipients have ranged from high school seniors to adults returning to school to further their education.

If I am attending graduate school, can I still apply?

Yes, you may be taking courses to earn an associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, graduate degree, or a doctorate– there is no restriction for the level of degree that your courses must be if you are a recipient of this scholarship.

I am still waiting to hear back from a school/college/university to know if I have been accepted for the fall 2024 semester. Can I still apply for this scholarship?

Yes, you may still apply even if you still have not received acceptance to a school/college/university at the time of submitting your application. We understand that some schools do not send out acceptance letters until late spring, which is after our entry period closes. If you are selected as a potential recipient and still are waiting on acceptance to a school at that time, we will handle this on a case-by-case basis.

How will I be notified if I have been selected as a potential scholarship recipient?

If you have been selected as a potential recipient, you will receive an email from scholarship@housingcenter.com notifying you of this news. You will be told of any remaining documents that are required and given a deadline to submit them by. If you do not submit these required documents by the deadline, you will be disqualified. Extensions can be given on a case-by-case basis if there are circumstances out of your control that will not allow you to submit particular documents by the given deadline.

How are applicants selected as potential recipients?

Eligible applicants who submit a complete application before the entry period closes, will be entered into a random drawing, with recipients being drawn by an authorized employee at HAI Group.

Once the entry period closes, when will potential recipients be notified?

On or about Wednesday, June 1, 2024, HAI Group will hold a random drawing to select potential recipients to fill the remaining available scholarship slots that have not been filled by past recipients (These individuals are eligible to receive the scholarship for up to four consecutive years).

If you receive an email from us notifying you that you have been selected as a potential recipient, you will have 14 days to return the remaining documentation to us. If we do not hear from you within this timeframe, you will be disqualified, and we will select a new potential recipient. However, if you do reach out to us and notify us that you are not able to submit a document within that timeframe due to uncontrollable circumstances, we will be able to make accommodations on a case-by-case basis. Due to these unforeseeable factors, it may take longer than 14 days for a potential recipient to submit all required documentation.

If a potential scholarship recipient fails to return documents by a set deadline, we will select the next applicant on the list of our random drawing results and the same 14-day process will begin. A maximum of three alternate drawings will be conducted, after which any or all unclaimed scholarships will remain un-awarded.

Once we receive all required documentation from each potential recipient, we will then officially announce the names of the scholarship recipients on our website. We will also at this time send an email to all applicants, notifying them that the scholarship program has officially closed. Please expect this email to go out in July 2024.

What is a W-9 form, and who fills this out?

A W-9 form is a tax form that we are legally required to have on file to issue the scholarship check payment. This form needs to be filled out by the accredited or licensed technical school, college, or university that you will be attending in the fall of 2024. Please note that we will only accept the most updated version of this form, which is the Rev. March 2024 version. We recommend that you contact the financial aid office or the accounts payable office at your school to have this form filled out.

I have been selected as a potential recipient, but I am not able to return my proof of enrollment form by the given deadline because my school/college/university’s enrollment period is not open yet. What do I do?

Please contact us before the 14-day deadline given in the  potential recipient email we sent you, and we will handle this situation on a case-by-case basis. If we do not receive any communication from you by the given due date, you will be disqualified.

What do I have to do to ensure I will receive this scholarship for up to four consecutive years?

After becoming an official scholarship recipient, we will send you an email in December 2024, asking you to fill out a semester update form to share your progress with us. If you submit this form by our specific due date, you will then receive an email inviting you to fill out an application for the 2025 scholarship program before the entry period opens up to the public. You will need to fill out this application before our given due date. If we receive this application on time and it contains all required documentation, you will be all set to receive the scholarship for the following year. You will need to repeat this process (subject to change) for each of the four consecutive years.

What type of file format do I need to provide for my photo submission?

Please submit a professional headshot or a clear, sharp image of yourself. The photo file can be either a JPEG or PNG file.

How do I fill out the required forms with the application? Can I electronically fill them out or do I need to print them and hand write my information?

Each required form that is part of the application is provided to you as a fillable PDF. This allows each document to be filled and signed electronically. If you prefer, you may also print the required forms and then fill them in with a dark ink pen. Then, scan these completed forms, save the file as a PDF and upload it to your application. If you do not have a scanner, we recommend going to your local library or speaking with your FSSC or resident services coordinator to locate available resources. You may also take a photo of each page of the documents as an alternative to scanning. However, you will need to save all of these JPEG images from your cell phone into one PDF file to upload as you cannot upload multiple individual files for a single document as part of your application. If you run into difficulty with this process, contact us at scholarship@housingcenter.com

The application won't load onto my mobile phone or tablet. What do I do?

Our application works best if you fill it out while using a desktop or a laptop. If you do not have access to a computer, we recommend going to your local library or speaking with your FSSC or resident services coordinator to locate available resources.

I am using a computer to fill out my application, but it won't submit. What do I do?

First, be sure that you have uploaded all required documents and filled in all required fields because if anything is left blank, the application will not submit. If you did complete everything, we recommend trying a different internet browser. If you are still having difficulties, contact us at scholarship@housingcenter.com.