Changes:
The Office of Scholarship and Financial Aid at UNL has made changes to how the Susan T. Buffett Scholarship will be disbursed. Because of changes the Buffett Foundation made over the summer, your Scholarship will now likely be disbursed EARLIER than previous communications indicated. This is important to you for a few reasons:
• You may see a refund sooner than you were expecting
• If you purchased books from the UNL Bookstore, they may not be included on the student bill to which the Buffett Scholarship was applied.
Because of these changes, be sure to READ YOUR UNL INVOICE/BILL to verify what charges have been and have not been processed. Be sure to set aside funds (possibly a refund issued from the University) to pay for charges that may not appear until a later billing cycle (example: October). This is especially important if you purchased books at the UNL Bookstore. For example: if you made purchases at the bookstore after August 9th, those charges will be on your October bill. Make sure your book/supply charges have all been processed before spending a refund on other items. The Buffett Scholarship will only be disbursed once each semester; no additional funds will be disbursed.
Update Reminders:
Over the summer, the Buffett Foundation made some changes/updates regarding the disbursement and terms of then Susan T. Buffett Scholarship. Here are three key notes about your scholarship:
1. The maximum award each semester is $4,250. Included in this amount for all Buffett Scholarship recipients is $500 for books or supplies and up to $3,750 for tuition. Once disbursed, the funds will be used to pay any outstanding charges on your account. If any money is left over, it will be refunded to you, but you should hold onto those funds until you have verified that all charges you have made to your account have been cleared.
2. If you choose to withdraw from a course after the Buffett Foundation has already paid for the cost of the course, you will no longer be required to pay the Foundation back. However, before you can withdraw from a course, you will be required to meet with a W.H. Thompson professional staff member.
3. In order to continue receiving the Buffett Scholarship, you must earn and maintain a minimum 2.0 GPA. Beginning with the fall 2013 semester, the Buffett Foundation will automatically receive your grades as they are submitted into the UNL MyRed system. However, for those of you who took summer classes, you will still need to submit your 2013 summer course grades at https://buffettscholargrades.nebraska.edu/. Also, for first and second year scholars, you will still be required to submit mid-semester grade reports to W.H. Thompson Learning Community staff.
If you have any additional questions regarding the disbursement and terms of your Susan T. Buffett Scholarship, please contact a member of the W.H. Thompson Scholars Learning Community staff.