Palmetto Fellows Scholarship Application Process

The Palmetto Fellows Scholarship is a merit-based scholarship program to established to recognize high academic achievement of South Carolina students. Recipients receive up to $6700 per academic year, renewable each of three years provided GPA and credit hours are maintained, at an eligible college or university in South Carolina. Students may not receive the Palmetto and the LIFE/HOPE Scholarships at the same time.

The Commission on Higher Education in South Carolina is very happy to accept applications from homeschool students for the Palmetto Fellows Scholarship. Lately, there has been some confusion among 3rd option associations about the application process, thus the purpose of this article.

The Palmetto Fellows Scholarship requirements include: a minimum SAT or ACT score; a class rank; and a high school transcript (grade point ratio). These are three separate requirements. Most of the confusion has centered on the class ranking requirement. But, bear in mind that all of these three things are required for an application.

Associations should gather this material into one Palmetto Fellows Scholarship application package to submit by the two deadlines of January 15th and May 3rd . Some of the following information is to be submitted online by the association director (save the confirmation receipt to prove you submitted it). Then in one packet, by postal service, send to the CHE the following:

cover letter on association letterhead, signed by association director, stating the association’s submission of applicant(s) for the Palmetto Fellows Scholarship, as well as a list of every student from that association that was eligible for the scholarship (Eligible Applicants Form e-mailed to shubbard@che.sc.gov submitted as an Excel Attachment)
SAT score reports
transcripts (parent-generated transcript is fine, as long as association director reviews transcripts for consistency before submitting
ranking report on association letterhead (see below)
signature page of applying students (this is a page submitted by student that is signed by student and parent stating that they adhere to PFS program requirements)
confirmation receipt from director AND parent of information submitted on-line through Internet site
declination form, if applicable (completed form from those students who were eligible but declined applying for the Palmetto)

SAT Score

The teaching parent submits the student’s SAT score to the association. This score must be minimum 1200 on the SAT or 27 on the ACT. The Commission on Higher Education only accepts a copy of the score report from the College Board or American College Testing as official verification of meeting the minimum score.

The Transcript

The Palmetto Fellows scholarship requires a minimum cumulative 3.50 GPR on the Uniform Grading Scale. This means that the student should have a grade point ratio of 3.50 from the high school courses he took from 9th through 11th grade – this should include any high school level courses he took before 9th grade, as well. For example, if he took Algebra I in the 8th grade, then that course should be on his high school transcript. Twelfth grade courses that the student is currently taking may be listed on the transcript as well, but with no grades. The transcript should reflect all high school courses, with numerical grades, through the 11th grade. Directions for calculating the GPR are given below.

In submitting the transcript, note the following:

At the top of the transcript, give the following information: student’s name, parents’ names, address, social security number, cumulative GPR (9th through 11th grade), prospective graduation date, and class rank.

List courses taken, with numerical grade (i.e. not “A,” but instead “96”) and credit earned for each course.

At the bottom of the transcript, state that the Uniform Grading Scale was used in calculating the GPR

It is very important to proof carefully the transcript before sending it in. This document is a reflection of your homeschooling experience, and if truth be told, of the overall quality of homeschooling in general. Make sure that you use correct spelling and grammar. The transcript should be neatly typed on clean, high-quality paper.

Class Rank

If an association has fewer than twenty students in its graduating class, then it may submit one applicant for the Palmetto Fellows scholarship, its #1 ranked student.

If an association has 21 to 40 students in its graduating class, then it may submit two applicants for the Palmetto Fellows scholarship, its #1 and its #2 ranked students.

If an association has over 40 students in its graduating class, then it may submit the top 5% students according to ranking.

The accountability association must complete a Ranking Report. This consists of a simple list of graduating students by name (no SS# required) with their respective GPR’s. The association director signs the report. There is not a specific form used for this report; directors simply write their own report. If there are graduating students who did not turn in GPR’s, the director should simply add their names to the list and record a 0 instead of their GPR.

If an association does not rank the students in its association, then the student goes to the public high school where he/she would normally have attended (if he were not homeschooled) and make an appointment with the guidance counselor. This work is done on the counselor’s own time, so please be considerate, and make your appointment well in advance of all deadlines (i.e. October for the January deadline). Ask the guidance counselor for a “hypothetical rank,” the rank the student would have received if he/she had been at that school. Parents should bring with them to this meeting a brief description of courses (a portfolio of completed work is fine) or a school profile sheet (description of the homeschool program) to give the guidance counselor a better idea of high school level work that has been completed.

The guidance counselor will write a letter to the CHE on public school letterhead, stating that the homeschooled student has a hypothetical class rank within the top 5%. The guidance counselor must give the student’s exact rank and the class size. The counselor should also include the student’s social security number, other student information, and sign the letter.

This rank does NOT count against the school’s 5% of students allowed as Palmetto Fellows Scholarship applicants from that public high school, so the public school guidance counselors should not be concerned about jeopardizing their own applicants by issuing this hypothetical rank. Therefore, you should receive a good reception from public school guidance counselors about this process.

Ranking is done solely by the student’s grade point ratio (GPR), using the Uniform Grading Scale of South Carolina. This scale can be found on www.sde.state.sc.us/offices/cso/ugp. (After getting on the main web page, go under Documents at the bottom of the page, click on Uniform Grading Policy). This is not optional. It is required that all students desiring to obtain state scholarships in SC use the Uniform Grading Scale (UGS).

This is not difficult to use. From the student’s high school transcript, the parent takes their numerical final grades given for each subject, looks up these numerical scores on a chart (the UGS), and assigns the quality points from the chart. A GPR is calculated by adding up all of the quality points from all of the school subjects, and dividing that sum by the total number of high school credits earned. The result is the student’s GPR. The GPR should be listed at the top of the transcript along with prospective graduation date. For additional information regarding the Palmetto Fellows Scholarship or application process, please feel free to contact Sherry Hubbard at (803) 737-2260 or shubbard@che.sc.gov.

PO Box 2707
Irmo, SC 29063

(803) 772-2330