Returning Student Application Form

This form is for South Dakota students who first attended a regionally accredited institution out of state and then returned to South Dakota to attend school within two years after their high school graduation date (or two years following release from active military service). Such students must meet initial eligibility requirements for the Opportunity Scholarship, as well as continuing eligibility provisions (GPA and credit-hour load requirements) while they were enrolled out of state. If a student returns to South Dakota and applies for the Opportunity Scholarship, a partial award is made. Students forfeit any scholarship amount for the time spent out of state. In their fourth and final year of eligibility, the scholarship payment is also reduced by one-half (a $1,300 award will be made instead of $2,600).

The Administrative Rules that govern the South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship specify that all initial and continuing eligibility requirements must be met for students who have attended institutions out of state. Continuing eligibility requires the scholarship recipient to have:

Been continuously enrolled;
Completed the credit hour benchmarks for each year of instruction consisting of new courses (no repeats); and
Maintained a cumulative 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale (first calculated after the 2nd semester of post-secondary study and for every semester thereafter).

Students seeking to establish their eligibility in the Opportunity Scholarship program must first complete the Returning Student Eligibility Form which requires information from the student's high school as well as information from transfer institutions at which the student completed coursework outside the state (if applicable).

Returning Student Application Form

Due Dates

Returning student application forms must be complete by September 1 for the fall semester funding or by January 15 for the spring semester funding.