Length of Eligibility

The DSF Scholarship is renewable for up to a total of four consecutive years.

Your DSF Scholarship eligibility period begins when you first apply and meet the initial eligibility requirements to become a DSF Finalist and part of a DSF Cohort.  For example: New Applicants who become Finalists in 2020 are members of the 2020 Cohort. The 2020 Cohort’s first school year of eligibility is the 2020-21 school year and these students may continue to renew the DSF Scholarship through the 2023-24 school year.

Within your four-year period of DSF Scholarship eligibility, there are limits on how long you can renew the DSF Scholarship at certain types of colleges.

• College/University: Students enrolled in a 4-year public or private college or university are eligible for scholarship consideration during all four years of the eligibility period.
• Community College: Students enrolled in a community college or junior college are eligible for scholarship consideration during the first two years of the eligibility period.
• Technical College: Students enrolled in a technical college are eligible for scholarship consideration during the first year of the eligibility period.

Covid Extensions of Eligibility

Given Covid’s impact on students and families over the past year, DSF is extending scholarship eligibility for an additional year for students who either: 

• Received a DSF award in 20-21; or 
• Met all 20-21 DSF requirements, but didn’t receive an award due to insufficient enrollment. 

For the 2021-22 academic year, this impacts eligible students in the following groups: 

• 2017 cohort at a 4-year college/university
• 2019 cohort at a community college 
• 2020 cohort at a technical college 

If you are eligible for this extension for the 2021-22 academic year, DSF will notify you by email and text message. You will need to renew your scholarship and meet your DSF requirements as usual – you don’t need to submit anything additional. Visit Renew Your DSF Scholarship for details about re-applying for DSF in our new student portal.

If you have questions about whether you are eligible for the extension, talk to your DSF Campus Contact or reach out to the DSF Scholarship team using this contact form or at 303.640.6564.

Reminder that students who have completed a bachelor’s degree are no longer eligible for DSF, so if you will be completing your bachelor’s this spring or summer, you will not be eligible for the extension, but we’re super excited about your accomplishment! 

Stopping Out/Taking Time Off From College

If you choose NOT to enroll (i.e., stop out) for one or more academic terms after becoming a DSF Finalist, the time taken off from college will be deducted from your remaining years of scholarship eligibility.

You may re-apply for the DSF Scholarship at any time during within your remaining years of eligibility as long as you receive an initial DSF Scholarship award payment by December 31 of the calendar year immediately following your graduation from high school. However, you must meet all DSF application deadlines and scholarship requirements to receive a payment each term.

Initial Payment Deadline

You must qualify to receive your initial DSF scholarship award payment by December 31 of the year after your high school graduation to be eligible to re-apply for DSF in future years. For example, if you graduated from high school in 2020, you must receive your first DSF scholarship award payment by December 31, 2021, to be eligible to apply for the scholarship for future years.

Program Extension Request

DSF Scholars are eligible to renew the DSF Scholarship for up to four consecutive years.  If you are enrolled in an undergraduate degree program which requires more credits for completion than the traditional degree (certificate, associate’s/AAS, or bachelor’s), you may qualify for an additional academic year of scholarship eligibility.

If you must complete prerequisites before starting your degree program, those prerequisite credits may be included in the total number of credits required to complete your degree.

To determine if your program qualifies for an extension and to request an additional year of eligibility based on your program, please go to the Forms tab of the DSF Student Portal to complete the Program Extension Form and upload your college transcript (official or unofficial) and your degree plan.