To qualify for the Excelsior Scholarship, students must be New York State residents who plan on attending a SUNY or CUNY school full-time. Their families also must be making $100,000 or less annually.
That is just the beginning of what this scholarship requires.
"Students need to apply to apply for their FAFSA or their TAP, then they need to apply to the Excelsior Scholarship," said OCC Student Engagement and Learning Support Senior VP Dr. Julie White. "So if they go to our website or the higher education website, it will bring them right to the application."
Students will have to fill out those FAFSA and TAP forms beforehand. They don't need to have the results just yet, but they do need to be completed.
"I believe that a lot of that information will be imported from the TAP application. That's what we've been told," White said. "But it will be a lot of the same documentation, income tax information -- again from 2015, and that will be the basis of determining eligibility."
You will also need certain documents in-hand. That includes:
- Income information from the student's or guardian's 2015 state tax return;
- A student's college credit history;
- Any financial aid a student is expected to receive in the upcoming year, including aid from federal, state, institutional or private sources.
The scholarship has a strict deadline of July 21.