What should I do if I know I'll be changing schools mid-year before the school year even begins? Or what if I'm not sure?

When completing your Award Acceptance & Enrollment Information tasks online through your GHCF Scholar account, there will be a question in the "School Information" task that asks the following: Will you be attending the same college for both the fall and spring semesters? 

Please select either of the following options:

• No, I will be changing schools between the fall and spring semesters.
• I am not sure at this time.

If you select either of these options, our team will know that you will be/are thinking about transferring mid-year and we will only mail the fall portion of your scholarship award to your college. The spring portion of your award will be held at Greater Houston Community Foundation until we hear back from you with the information listed below. 

What should I do if I change schools mid-year?

1. Email the Scholarships Team at scholarships@ghcf.org with the following information about your new school & enrollment once the information is available:
   • Full name and location of your new college/university
   • New student ID number
   • Anticipated graduation date
   • Major / Degree
   • Copy of spring class schedule that shows your school name or logo and total number of credit hours in which you are enrolled
     
     
2. Contact your Financial Aid Office and let them know you are transferring schools and that the spring portion of your scholarship should be refunded to the Greater Houston Community Foundation as soon as possible. If your financial aid office has any questions, they can contact us at scholarships@ghcf.org.

If I transfer school in-between semesters, can my check be sent to the new school?

It depends on the criteria of the scholarship you receive. Some scholarship funds must be used at specific schools. It is not always possible to transfer the funding to another school.

How long before you forward my check to the new school?

If there are no criteria restrictions, once we receive your award refund from the school, and the information listed in #1 above from you, we can prepare and send a new scholarship check to your new school.

My full scholarship check was mailed to the school I'll be leaving next term. How long will it take the school, where the check was originally sent, to return the funds?

If you did not inform our Scholarships Team that you would be transferring mid-year either by email OR by selecting "I will be changing schools between the fall and spring semesters" / "I am not sure at this time" through your GHCF Scholar account, then a check for the full academic year was mailed to your school. 

It could take several weeks/months for the school to return the funds. We recommend getting started with the steps above as soon as possible once you have confirmed you are transferring. You will also need to contact your Financial Aid Office and ask them to return the funds to Greater Houston Community Foundation for the term you will not be enrolled. 

Can the Foundation send a new check to my new school before the refund is received?

No, we must wait for the refund to be sent back to us.