FFWS provides need-based grants to randomly selected, recent graduates of Wisconsin public high schools who are starting their first year of attendance at a UW four year institution to earn an undergraduate baccalaureate degree. Grants are gifted aid; they do not have to be repaid. There is no application process; eligibility is determined using data from the Federal Application for Student Aid (FAFSA). Once a list of eligible students is provided to the University of Wisconsin System Offices, recipients are randomly selected to receive the grant.
To be eligible, one must:
- Be a resident of Wisconsin
- Have been a full-time, resident student in a Wisconsin public school for four semesters prior to graduation
- Have received a Wisconsin public high school diploma or HSED within the past three years
- Be under the age of 21 years on the 1st of September of the year of initial eligibility
- Be in the first year of a baccalaureate degree program or moving directly from a WTCS or UW Branch Campus with at least 24 successful credits at the institution
- Be enrolled full time in a UW System four year comprehensive university based in Wisconsin
- Be a PELL recipient at initial eligibility
- Have remaining unmet financial need
Student may continue to receive FFWS grants for up to 8-10 semesters if:
- Student’s college enrollment at either a UW four year university or a UW Branch campus
- Enrollment does not exceed six semesters at a WTCS or a UW two-year college branch
- Adequate academic progress is being made with undergraduate baccalaureate degree
- Student’s school continues to follow the grant process
- FAFSA is completed each year
- Student has remaining unmet financial need
To learn more about the Fund for Wisconsin Program, please see their website here.