Background

The BYU-Idaho Thomas E. Ricks Grant is named after the founder of Ricks Academy (which eventually became BYU-Idaho) and is intended to assist students at BYU-Idaho who show financial need and/or academic merit. The Thomas E. Ricks Grant replaces the former BYU-Idaho General and Academic Scholarships.

Application

To be evaluated for the BYU-Idaho Thomas E. Ricks Grant, students must complete the following by March 1st

Eligibility

  • Student must be admitted as a campus student
  • Students must have less than 140 cumulative credits earned at the time of evaluation. All credits appearing on the student’s official transcript are counted including Advanced Placement, language exam credits, transfer credits, etc.

Evaluation

Students will receive one award that is determined by a combination of the following criteria:

  • Financial need:
    • Based on information taken from the BYU-Idaho Thomas E. Ricks Grant Application and the FAFSA
  • Academic achievement (see below tables to determine a student's eligiblity):
    • Freshman students:
      • For the 2020/2021 application, students are evaluated on high school GPA and ACT/SAT score (see Tables 2 and 3 below). 
      • For the 2021/2022 application, ACT/SAT scores will not be used to evaluate academic achievement. Incoming freshmen with at least a 3.8 high school GPA will likely be awarded at least a partial grant if they apply by the March 1, 2021 priority deadline. 
    • Continuing students: Evaluated on BYU-Idaho GPA based on cumulative data from the end of the previous Fall semester (see Table 4 below). Students must have completed at least 14 resident credits at BYU-Idaho.
      • Example: the 2021/2022 Grant academic achievement evaluation will be based on students' cumulative GPA of BYU-Idaho credits at the end of Fall 2020.      
    • Transfer students: Evaluated on transfer GPA (see Table 4 below)

Students who submit their BYU-Idaho Thomas E. Ricks Grant Application after the March 1st priority deadline will be evaluated for financial need only and awarded based on university fund availability.

Recently Returned Missionaries must complete the required applications before the full-semester Financial Aid Determination Date (FADD) of their first semester back in order to be evaluated for the maximum eligible awards.

Academic Achievement Evaluation Tables

Table 1: Student Definition Table

All BYU-Idaho Thomas E. Ricks Grants are evaluated for academic achievement. These evaluations are based on whether the student is a freshman, transfer, or continuing student at BYU-Idaho. Listed in Table 1 are the definitions of each type of student.

Student Defined Evaluation
Freshman Student has earned less than 14 BYU-Idaho credits and less than 24 transfer college credits earned post-high school graduation. Evaluated based upon high school GPA and ACT or SAT score (see Table 2 below) at the time of evaluation. Award amounts found in Table 3.
Transfer Student has earned less than 14 BYU-Idaho credits and more than 24 transfer college credits earned post-high school graduation. Evaluated based upon student's cumulative transfer GPA from prior university (see Table 4 below) at the time of evaluation.
Continuing Student has earned at least 14 BYU-Idaho credits. Evaluated based upon the completion of 14 BYUI credits and the student's cumulative BYU-Idaho GPA (see Table 4 below) at the end of the previous year's Fall semester.

Table 2: 2020-2021 Freshman Academic Achievement Scale

Freshmen are evaluated for the academic achievement portion of the Thomas E. Ricks Grant based on their high school GPA as well as their SAT or ACT score that is on record with BYU-Idaho at the time of evaluation. Test scores submitted after the evaluation of the student's Ricks Grant are not taken into consideration.

Note: ACT/SAT scores will not be used to evaluate academic achievement for the 2021/2022 Thomas E. Ricks Grant. Incoming freshmen with at least a 3.8 high school GPA will likely be awarded at least a partial grant if they apply by the March 1, 2021 priority deadline. Evaluation table for the 2021/2022 Thomas E. Ricks Grant coming soon! 

TER Grant Scale

Table 3: 2020-2021 Freshman Academic Achievement Award Amounts

Award amounts are in reference to tuition costs for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Award Tuition Amount
2020-2021
Grant Award Per Semester
Full Tuition $2,150
Half Tuition $1,075
Quarter Tuition $538

Table 4: 2020-2021 Transfer/Continuing Academic Achievement Award Amounts

Academic achievement evaluations for continuing students are pulled from the cumulative GPA at the end of the most recent Fall semester for the following year’s awards as long as the student has completed at least 14 credits at BYU-Idaho. (Example: Academic evaluations for the 2020/2021 academic year are pulled from the cumulative GPA after Fall 2019). Academic achievement evaluations for transfer students are pulled from the official transfer GPA on record with BYU-Idaho at the time of evaluation. Award amounts are in reference to tuition costs for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Note: GPA scale for the 2021-2022 Thomas E. Ricks Grant coming soon!

Cumulative GPA Award Tuition Amount
2020-2021
Grant Award Per Semester
3.95 - 4.0 Full Tuition $2,150
3.9 - 3.949 Half Tuition $1,075
3.75 - 3.899 Quarter Tuition $538

Awarding                        

  • BYU-Idaho Grants will typically disburse during the first week of the semester
  • The Thomas E. Ricks Grant will be awarded for all three semesters but will not exceed full LDS tuition amounts per semester
    • Students who do not attend a semester they have been awarded will forfeit the individual award for that semester (exceptions to this rule are students who submit a mission deferment with the Admissions Office)
    • Awards cannot be moved or combined 
  • Students must be enrolled in 12 or more credits as of the Full Semester Financial Aid Determination Date (FADD) to receive their full award. This means students MUST be enrolled in any 2nd block classes by the Full Semester FADD to receive and keep their grant
    • Students taking 6-11.5 credits as of Full Semester FADD will receive a prorated portion of their grant - students do not need to contact the Financial Aid Office to have grants prorated
    • Individual semester awards will be cancelled for students enrolled in less than 6 credits as of Full Semester FADD

Proration 

Table 5: 2020-2021 Prorated Award Amounts

Thomas E. Ricks Grants may be prorated down to 6 enrolled credits as of the semester's Full Semester FADD. The prorated award amount can be determined by finding the student's original award amount on the 12+ credit row and then following that column down to the number of current enrolled credits. This is an automatic process, students do not need to contact the Financial Aid Office to get their grant prorated. 

Credit Level 2020-2021 Award Amount
12+ $2,150 $1,613 $1,075 $538
9-11.5 $1,613 $1,210 $807 $404
6-8.5 $1,075 $807 $538 $269
Below 6 No Award