Hope Scholarship

In June 2023, the State of Rhode Island created the Rhode Island Hope Scholarship Pilot Program Act (“Hope”). Through the Hope Scholarship program, eligible students who attend RIC for their freshman and sophomore years are able to attend RIC for their junior and senior years with free tuition and mandatory student fees. This also applies to adult students who meet the requirements. The current Hope legislation provides this scholarship to current and future RIC students.  

The Hope Scholarship program allows Rhode Island residents who meet program eligibility criteria to attend RIC for their junior and senior years free of tuition and mandatory fees. These are costs and fees that every RIC student is required to pay to enroll in classes. Hope Scholarship funding is available to eligible students regardless of family income.  

Additional costs not covered by Hope Scholarship funding include: 

• Textbooks;
• Late registration fees;
• Fees associated with particular academic programs (for example, nursing fees);
• Fees associated with particular courses (for example, materials fees);
• Housing and food costs; and,
• Travel costs associated with attendance at RIC. 

Hope Scholarship funds are applied after all other sources of federal aid (e.g., Pell Grants, Supplementary Educational Opportunity Grants, etc.), scholarships, and any additional financial aid funding are applied to the student’s cost of attendance. No grants received by students from the Department of Children, Youth and Families’ Higher Education Opportunity Incentive Grant as established by Chapter 72.8 of Title 42 or the College Crusade Scholarship Act as establishes in Chapter 70 of Title 16 shall be considered federal or financial aid for the purposes of this program.

Hope Scholarship will cover intersession courses during both the junior and senior years, as well as summer classes taken between a student’s junior and senior years.  However, Hope Scholarship funds are not available after the completion of the eighth (8th) spring or fall semester, regardless of whether the student has graduated.  In addition, the Hope Scholarship will also cover any credits taken in excess of eighteen (18) credits per semester during the student’s time of eligibility for the award.  Hope Scholarship students who begin as first-time, full-time students in a spring semester will be eligible for the Hope Scholarship providing they meet all other requirements.

Details and eligibility requirements can be found at https://www.ric.edu/hope-scholarship/ric-hope-scholarship-policy-manual