Scholarship information for external organizations
Transition to ACH Payments – Effective Summer Session 2026
Many University of Nevada, Reno students receive scholarships from private and community organizations. To ensure compliance with federal financial aid regulations and to support timely and accurate processing, the University is updating its policy for external scholarship payments. Starting with the Summer 2026 term, the University will transition to ACH Direct Deposit in lieu of paper checks for external scholarship payments. All scholarship funds must be submitted via Automated Clearing House (ACH) direct deposit to the University Controller’s Office.
Benefits of ACH Payments
- Faster processing and disbursement of funds to students
- Improved tracking and reconciliation for both donors and the University
- Reduced risk of lost or delayed checks
- Environmentally responsible and more secure
Next Steps:
- External scholarship organizations must:
- Transition to ACH payment methods by May 18, 2026
- Contact the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships at finaid@unr.edu to request ACH banking details and remittance instructions
Paper checks received after the deadline may still be processed but delayed depending on time of the year.
Many students receive scholarships from private and community organizations. For best compliance with federal aid requirements and your own scholarship requirements, we strongly encourage these entities to send checks to the University for disbursements to the student.
Scholarship check(s) should be made payable to the Board of Regents and mailed to the following address:
Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships
Mailstop 0076
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno, NV 89557-0076
- Student’s full name and student ID (NSHE number) or date of birth (no Social Security numbers please)
- Total amount of the scholarship for the academic year
- Unless otherwise specified, checks in amounts $999 and below will be disbursed in their entirety in the fall semester if funds are received between May and October and in the spring semester if funds are received November through April
- Checks restricted to use in summer must specify they are for the summer term
- Checks in amounts of $1,000 or more will be divided into equal disbursements for fall and spring terms unless otherwise specified
- If you do not want any review of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) to occur, you must state the funds are SAP exempt in the letter accompanying the funds
- Degree seeking enrollment at the University of Nevada, Reno is required for scholarships including external organization scholarships. In order to disburse, the standard minimum enrollment each fall or spring semester is twelve (12) undergraduate or six (6) graduate credits each semester.
- This enrollment requirement does not consider enrollment at other NSHE institutions
- Disbursement below the credit levels described above requires written authorization from the donor with a specific indication of the minimum number of credits required to disburse the funds
- If a student is served by the Disability Resource Center (DRC) scholarships are disbursed at the credit load certified by the DRC as the equivalent of full time (with a minimum of six (6) University of Nevada, Reno credits per semester)
- Summer minimum University enrollment for external scholarships is six (6) UNR credits as enrollment in 12 credits during summer is extremely unusual
- Funds received in the financial aid office by August 13 for the fall semester and January 7 for the spring semester are guaranteed to be posted to the student aid offer by the fee due date. Depending on the volume of checks received it can take up to ten (10) business days to process scholarship checks. However, the normal processing time is four (4) working days
- Funds will not be disbursed to students who are not making satisfactory academic progress for GPA or Pace shortfalls unless the donor indicates in a letter accompanying the funds that they are exempt from satisfactory academic progress. Unless you specify otherwise, external scholarships are exempt from the maximum attempted credit restrictions associated with other aid awarded by the University.
- Late charges of $25 per day accrue to any past due student account the Saturday before classes begin each semester. Therefore, timely submission of external organization scholarship funds is very important to our students. If you know your funds will be late, please notify the recipient as they will need to have alternate plans in place for timely payment.
- As required by Board of Regents Handbook (Title 4, Chapter 17), the University of Nevada Reno adheres to the refund procedures as outlined in the Procedures & Guidelines Manual (Chapter 7, Section 22). Refunds will be first applied to any balance still owed to the University, including any aid cancelled or reduced due to a withdrawal, after which any remaining funds will be disbursed to the student. Should a student receive a 100% refund, non-federal institutional grants, non-federal institutional loans, and the Millennium Scholarship will be cancelled in their entirety. Other scholarships will be reviewed for compliance with the wishes of the scholarship donor and may be reduced or cancelled. Please note that once a student receives a scholarship and does not have a balance on their account, the scholarship will be refunded to the student.
- The University cannot apply an external scholarship to specific charges i.e. tuition only. All scholarship monies received and disbursed may cover educational expenses outlined in the students budget. Donors should coordinate with the student to determine scholarship amounts for specific charges prior to submitting checks to the University. We encourage external scholarships to be submitted to the financial aid office three weeks prior to the start of the term to allow adequate time for processing.