Eligibility
New Applicants
To receive a DSF Scholarship you must meet the following requirements and complete the application process within one year of your graduation from high school:
- Attend a DPS High School for all four consecutive years before graduation and be included in the DPS October Count for all four years.
- Graduate from a DPS High School with at least a 2.0 GPA. Your final cumulative high school GPA will determine the type of college where you will be eligible to receive the DSF scholarship (please see the High School GPA Requirement section for important details).
- Demonstrate financial need (see below for details).
- Students who are ineligible for Federal Student Aid must be lawfully present in the United States or apply to be lawfully present in the United States.
Demonstrating Financial Need
Applicants for the DSF Scholarship who are eligible for federal student aid will demonstrate financial need by submitting the FAFSA and completing their college’s financial aid process. Once the college informs DSF of the student’s final EFC (Expected Family Contribution), DSF will determine whether the student meets DSF’s financial need requirement. New Applicants for the 2019-20 academic year must have a final EFC of 8364** or less to qualify for DSF. Please note that the initial EFC that is provided in the FAFSA confirmation may change when the college completes its financial aid process.
Applicants for the DSF Scholarship who are not eligible for federal student aid (including DACA students) will demonstrate financial need by qualifying for free and reduced-price meal benefits at some point during their time in high school. In order for DSF to verify that an applicant qualified for free/reduced-price meal benefits, applicants must agree for DPS to provide the information to DSF. Applicants do this by signing a release of information as part of the online DSF application.
**The maximum EFC to demonstrate financial need for DSF is based on 1.5x the maximum EFC to qualify for the federal Pell grant (referred to as the Pell limit), which Congress approves each year. For the 2019-20 academic year, 8364 is 1.5x the Pell limit of 5576; if the Pell limit changes for 2020-21, the DSF maximum qualifying EFC will be updated.
Renewal Applicants
The following information pertains to the DSF Application for the 2019-20 Academic Year.
Do I Qualify? Choose the one that describes you.
I will graduate from high school in 2019.
To be considered for a DSF Scholarship you must meet the following requirements and complete our application process within one year of your graduation from high school:
- Attend a DPS High School for all four consecutive years before graduation and be included in the DPS October Count for all four years.
- Graduate from a DPS High School with at least a 2.0 GPA. Your final cumulative high school GPA will determine the type of college where you will be eligible to receive the DSF scholarship (see the High School GPA Requirement section for details).
- Be eligible to receive Federal Student Financial Aid or have proof of lawful presence in the United States.
- Demonstrate financial need.
You must also receive a scholarship payment by December 31 of the year after your high school graduation in order to continue to be eligible for the DSF Scholarship in the future. For example, if you graduate from high school in 2019, you must receive a DSF scholarship payment by December 31, 2020 to be eligible to re-apply in the future.
I graduated from high school in 2018, and am applying for a DSF Scholarship for the first time.
To be considered for a DSF Scholarship, you must meet the following requirements and complete our application process within one year of your graduation from high school:
- Attend a DPS High School for all four consecutive years before graduation and be included in the DPS October Count for all four years.
- Graduate from a DPS High School with at least a 2.0 GPA. Your final cumulative high school GPA will determine the type of college where you will be eligible to receive the DSF scholarship (see the High School GPA Requirement section for details).
- Be eligible to receive Federal Student Financial Aid or have proof of lawful presence in the United States.
- Demonstrate financial need.
You must also receive a scholarship payment by December 31 of the year after your high school graduation in order to continue to be eligible for the DSF Scholarship in the future. For example, if you graduated from high school in 2018, you must receive a DSF scholarship payment by December 31, 2019 to be eligible to re-apply in the future.
I graduated from high school in 2017 or before, and I never applied for a DSF Scholarship.
We are sorry! Our scholarship policy requires all DPS graduates to apply within one year of high school graduation.
Please check out our extensive Scholarship Directory for a listing of other scholarships for which you may be eligible.
I received a DSF Scholarship payment in 2018-19, and I want to renew.
Congratulations on your success in college! To renew your DSF Scholarship, you must complete our renewal application process and meet the following requirements:
- Enroll full-time (12 or more credit hours) at an eligible DSF partner college.
- Meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements as defined by your college.
- Meet the Student Success Requirements at your college, if required.
- Have remaining eligibility for the DSF Scholarship.
I did not receive a DSF Scholarship payment in 2018-19 but I am a member of a DSF Cohort from a previous year and want to renew.
To renew your DSF Scholarship, you must complete our renewal application process and meet the following requirements:
- Enroll full-time (12 or more credit hours) at an eligible DSF partner college.
- Meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements as defined by your college.
- Meet the Student Success Requirements at your college, if required.
- Have remaining eligibility for the DSF Scholarship.
- For 2017 and earlier high school graduates: if you have not previously received a DSF Scholarship payment, you are unfortunately no longer eligible to apply for DSF.
- For 2018 high school graduates, you must receive a scholarship payment by December, 31, 2019 to maintain your future eligibility for the DSF Scholarship.