The New York Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarships (LOT) are awarded to student leaders providing scholarship assistance to outstanding New York State high school graduates who have demonstrated a strong academic ability, participated in extracurricular activities, and displayed a commitment to community service. Each year, one eligible graduating senior from every participating public and private high school in New York State is awarded a four-year college scholarship.

Schools must certify student eligibility for this scholarship for all applicable terms.

Eligibility Requirements

A LOT recipient must:
  • Be a United States citizen or eligible noncitizen
  • Be a legal resident of New York State
  • Must begin study at an approved postsecondary institution in New York State in the academic year for which the LOT is initially awarded
  • Have graduated from high school in June of the academic year for which the scholarship is awarded
  • Maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher*
  • Be enrolled as a full-time student taking 12 or more credits per semester
  • Be matriculated in an approved program of study and be in good academic standing*
  • Not be in default on a student loan guaranteed by HESC

*Recipients shall be ineligible for subsequent payments following a term in which they did not meet the 3.0 average requirement, or the general provisions of good academic standing requirements. Recipients may re-establish their eligibility for continued payments after demonstrating they have met all good academic standing requirements. Specific questions on waivers should be sent to the scholarship unit.

Award Amounts

Recipients awarded in 2007-08 or later receive a $5,000 scholarship, to be distributed in the amount of $1,250 per year.

Recipients awarded in 2006-07 or earlier receive a $4,000 scholarship, to be distributed in the amount of $1,000 per year.

Note: Award payments shall not exceed the actual cost of attendance as defined in the Education Law.

LOT 200 Series Roster

Students selected for the LOT award will appear on a 200 series roster, created specifically for LOT recipients. This roster will look and process the same as a TAP roster and will be produced on the same schedule as TAP rosters. The 200 series roster is non-prepay to avoid issues with refund collection. TAP Certifying Officers are required to certify the 200 series roster in the same manner as any TAP roster.

The LOT rosters are available in HESC’s secure Transaction Processing under the Grants and Scholarships Reports tab. Select the Details tab for HE8069 Payment Roster to view/print the 200 series roster.

In cases where LOT recipients are eligible for multiple awards, HESC will process in the following manner:
  • LOT recipients previously approved for a TAP award on a regular TAP roster will be decertified by HESC from the TAP roster and will be placed on a 200 series roster for certification of both awards.
  • LOT recipients previously approved for a Scholarship for Academic Excellence (SAE), Child of Veteran (CV) or Veteran Tuition Award (VTA) on a regular TAP roster will be decertified by HESC from the TAP roster and will be placed on a 200 series roster for payment of their LOT award. Their SAE, CV or VTA will be placed on a Consolidated Scholarship Roster for manual payment.
  • LOT recipients holding a Volunteer Recruitment Service Scholarship (VRSS) will have their LOT award placed on a Consolidated Scholarship Roster to allow the continued processing of the VRSS award on the TAP roster.

Recipients cannot receive a LOT payment for accelerated summer study. However, if a scholarship holder requests TAP for a summer term the student will appear on the 200 series roster for a TAP award for summer.

The following scholarship program codes have been added to the HESC EFAN layouts:
  • LO = (41) NYS Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship ($1000) for students awarded prior to the 2007-08 academic year.
  • LT= (42) NYS Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship ($1250) for students awarded in the 2007-08 academic year and thereafter.

The program code consists of the third and fourth numeric characters of the Scholarship ID and may be found on the View Student Record page. For example, a LOT Scholarship ID of 08-42-000008 indicates the student’s semester award will equal $625.00 per term .

Certification


Payment

Payment will be disbursed after the certification of the roster resulting in the creation of a remittance advice. As with Tap payments, LOT payments will be reflected on the College Accounting Payment Documents.

Direct questions regarding certification to John DeFazio at jdefazio@hesc.org or 1-888-697-4372.