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


Good Academic Standing Requirements

Good Academic Standing: is comprised of Pursuit of Program and Satisfactory Academic Progress

Pursuit of Program
To satisfy pursuit of program a student must earn a letter grade (passing or failing) in a certain percentage of the full-time minimum course load.
At a semester-based institution, for example: The student must receive a letter grade in at least 50% of the minimum course load, 6 semester hours in each term of study the first academic year to be eligible for a LOT award in the subsequent term. In the second year, the student must receive a letter grade in 75% or 9 semester hours in each term of study for which an award is made. The percentage increases to 100% or at least 12 semester hours in each term of study in the third and forth years of study for which a LOT award is made.

Satisfactory Academic Progress
To be eligible for the LOT scholarship a student must earn (successfully complete) a minimum number of semester hours of credit with at least a B-average for each term an award is received. As with TAP awards, the number of previous award payments as well as the number of semester hours of credit earned determines placement on the Standard of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) chart. (Although the SAP chart normally requires a "C - average", LOT students must maintain the stricter B-average for continued eligibility.)

B-Average Requirement
Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of B (3.0 on a 4.0 grading scale) or better to maintain eligibility for the LOT Scholarship. Students who fail to maintain the required B-average will cease to be eligible for payment until they are restored to good academic standing and have raised their GPA to at least a B-average or have requested and obtained a B-average waiver.

Waiver of the B-Average Requirement
The B-average requirement may be waived for undue hardship based on:
• the death of a student's relative;
• the student's personal illness or injury; or
• other extenuating circumstances.

A waiver must be documented and must relate to circumstances that have affected the student's ability to achieve a cumulative B-average as of the end of a particular semester or term. The B-average waiver is separate from the one-time good academic standing waiver and may be granted more than once if circumstances warrant. Schools must maintain documentation of why waivers are granted but do not have to report the waiver in the certification process.

Loss of Good Academic Standing
Students who lose good academic standing in a term when they received a state grant or scholarship are not eligible for an award for the next term.

Reinstatement of Good Academic Standing
Students who have lost good academic standing may restore this standing in one of the following ways:
1. make up past academic deficiencies by completing one or more terms of study without receiving any state grants or scholarships;
2. be readmitted to school after an absence of at least one year; or
3. transfer to another institution.

One-time Waiver
New York State Commissioner of Education regulations permit students to receive a one-time waiver of the good academic standing requirement as an undergraduate and a one-time waiver as a graduate student. The institution issues the waiver if there are extenuating circumstances. The institution is required to publish and adhere to criteria under which it will grant a waiver. Institutional personnel are required to discuss the waiver with the student before granting one. The waiver is not automatic and must be done in accordance with the institution's published criteria. Improperly granting waivers can result in an audit disallowance against the institution.

HESC maintains a record of all good academic standing waivers granted and preprints a "W" on the payment roster for students previously granted a waiver. These students cannot be granted any additional waivers.

NOTE: The above steps will restore a student to good academic standing allowing the student to be eligible for most state sponsored grants & scholarships. However, the student will only be LOT eligible if they have successfully raised their GPA to the required minimum B-average.

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.