Description
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 acadmeic 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
- BYU-Idaho Thomas E. Ricks Grant Application
- Corresponding FAFSA (To be considered for maximum eligibility)
- International and DACA students are not required to submit the FAFSA
Eligibility
- Student must be admitted as a campus student.
- Student must be meeting the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards.
- 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:
- For freshman students: high school GPA and ACT/SAT score (see Table 1 below)
- For continuing students: BYU-Idaho GPA based on cumulative data from the end of the previous Fall semester (see Table 2 below)
- For transfer students: transfer GPA (see Table 2 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 Financial Aid Determination Date of their first semester back in order to be evaluated for the maximum eligible awards
Academic Achievement Evaluation Tables
| Student | Defined | Evaluation |
| Freshman | Less than 14 BYU-Idaho credits and less than 24 transfer college credits | Evaluated based upon high school GPA and ACT or SAT score (see Table 1 below) at the time of evaluation. |
| Transfer | Less than 14 BYU-Idaho credits and more than 24 transfer college credits | Evaluated based upon student's cumulative transfer GPA from prior university (see Table 2 below) at the time of evaluation. |
| Continuing | 14 BYU-Idaho credits or more | Evaluated based upon the completion of 14 BYUI credits and the student's cumulative BYU-Idaho GPA (see Table 2 below) at the time of evaluation. |
Table 1: 2019-2020 Freshman Academic Achievement Scale
Award criteria is subject to change from year to year.
*Please see below for information regarding the changes to the 2020/2021 BYU-Idaho Thomas E. Ricks Grant eligibility.
Table 2: Transfer/Continuing Academic Achievement Scale
| Cumulative GPA | Grant Award |
| 3.950-4.000 | $2,104 |
| 3.900-3.949 | $1,052 |
| 3.750-3.899 | $526 |
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. (Example: Academic evaluations for the 2019/2020 academic year are pulled from the cumulative GPA after Fall 2019)
Awarding
- Grants will not typically disburse until 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 must be enrolled in 12 or more credits to receive the full amount. A student may take 6-11.5 credits and still receive a prorated portion of the grant. Students do not need to contact the financial aid office to have this grant prorated. This grant may not be disbursed to a student enrolled in less than 6 credits.
Proration
| Credit Level | Award Amount | |||
| 12+ | $2,104 | $1,578 | $1,052 | $526 |
| 9-11.5 | $1,578 | $1,184 | $789 | $395 |
| 6-8.5 | $1,052 | $789 | $526 | $258 |
| Below 6 | No Award | |||
2020/2021 BYU-Idaho Thomas E. Ricks Grant
The following is a list of anticipated changes for the 2020/2021 BYU-Idaho Thomas E. Ricks Grant:
- Freshman Academic Achievement Scale: Incoming Freshmen may be eligible for a grant up to half LDS tuition based on their high school cumulative GPA and ACT or SAT score. Updated matrix coming soon.
- Transfer/Continuing Academic Achievement Scale: The GPA scale for transfer and continuing BYU-Idaho students will be updated. These students may be eligible for a grant up to half LDS tuition based on their cumulative BYU-Idaho or transfer GPA (see Table 3 below).
Table 3: 2020/2021 Transfer/Continuing Academic Achievement Scale
| Cumulative GPA | Grant Award |
| 3.950-4.000 | Half LDS Tuition |
| 3.750-3.949 | Quarter LDS Tuition |