Disbursement Form Frequently Asked Questions

You should have received an emailed link from us on May 1 via the email you have on file with us. If you did not receive this link, please contact [email protected] and they can send you another link. This link is active now, and you will be able to request funds from us up until June 30^th, 2023.

HAA will need your financial aid offer from the institution you are requesting for/attending. As a scholar, you will submit this information every year you are requesting funds (even if it is for $0).

Financial aid offer MUST include:

Your full name
Name of your school
Estimated Cost of Attendance
Full financial aid offer for the relevant academic year (including any scholarships, grants, work study, or loans you are being offered)

1^st Year Scholars

Requesting $0 for your disbursement: We do need a copy of your Class Schedule to confirm you are enrolled.
Requesting Other $$ amount for disbursement: No other academic information needed.

Future Years (2^nd year and beyond)

In future years, all scholars will be asked to submit an unofficial transcript from your institution. This must include:

Your full name
Name of your school
Cumulative GPA
Cumulative credit hours earned
Summary of your entire academic history (including transfer hours or dual credit hours earned)

Check in with [email protected] if you have questions on these requirements.

Go to scholars.horatioalger.org/login to view your disbursement and get updates on your approval date, payment date, etc.!

Once a disbursement request has been submitted an updated status will be available on your HAA Scholar portal as your disbursement is moved along from RECEIVED to PAID.

Once disbursements are approved, it usually takes 3-4 weeks for the checks to be cut and mailed to Scholars’ colleges and universities.

Usually , if you download the approval letter and send it to your Office of Financial Aid, they can waive any late fees, as they then have confirmation that the funds are on their way. Contact [email protected] if there are issues with this.

An approval letter is an auto-generated letter on our portal that is created when a disbursement request is approved. This letter states when the funding was approved and sent. This is important in case you need to download the letter from your portal and send it to your financial aid office to let them know funds are on the way.

It is possible that colleges/universities may decrease their grants/aid because of outside scholarships. Horatio Alger’s agreement with these universities is that they are not allowed to replace any federal, state, or institutional funding with our scholarship. However, there are other ways that you can fully use this scholarship. You can use it for summer classes (which are typically not included in the cost of attendance for a college or university), winter classes, or study abroad.

In addition, you may be able to talk with your college or university about raising your cost of attendance for our scholarship to go through. It is highly dependent on your financial aid office whether you will be able to do so, so the first step is initiating that conversation with the financial aid office to determine your eligibility.

Please connect with [email protected] or [email protected] on this issue if you have follow-up questions!

College Success Program questions: [email protected]
Scholarship questions: [email protected]