The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

you'll have the ability to submit a SAAR form to reduce the award year. they can take 6 months to process the paperwork but it's a pretty easy process to change the award length. it's faster to decrease the award compared to increasing it.

It differs between sponsoring facilities. You could ask your contact at your sponsoring facility for the exact numbers.

The scales are FOUO so you won't find them online but your SF contact should tell you

Yeah, this is unfortunate. I only have 8 credits I need for my last semester as well and they denied my <12 credit request. I'm going to end up taking a random class outside of my major to reach 12 credits. I already have a term where I took 2 PE classes to reach 12 credits. It feels like a waste of...

Hello, you might find some advice in the debtors discord. pm me and i'll link it to you.

Hey, it depends on your school. Typically you can contact your financial aid department they can tell you where to submit it. My school has a whole 'third-party billing' office that I send mine to.

My SF has a schedule for raises (like starting out at GS-7, 6 months later raise up to GS-9, 1 additional year GS-11, etc.)
Is it possible to speed up the raises/promotions or does the SF stick to the schedule strictly?

Received April 2nd, "Hello SMART Scholar, By now, you should have received an email, containing COVID-19 information and guidance from the SMART Program Manager. A key piece of this guidance was regarding COVID-19’s impact on upcoming planned internships. This email contains important information, e...

Yes, you will need to submit a service agreement amendment request (SAAR) form, an updated work plan, you need to email your sponsoring facility about the change, and get a signed letter form your academic advisor. Especially if your service commitment will change!!

Sent April 16th, "Dear SMART Scholars, In response to COVID-19, many universities are offering coursework on a pass/fail basis for the Spring 2020 academic term. According to the 2020 SMART Scholarship Program Scholar Handbook: 9.6. Failure to Earn Course Credit All coursework that is offered for a ...

It mainly depends on you. Some SF's have a habit of not being 100% honest about the work that goes on. They give the grand tour of all the projects but don't say what you would actually be working on. They tend to talk up all the cool projects that go on at the base but keep in mind that you probabl...

Hopefully everyone received the email that internships were waived for this summer.

If your SF is <50 miles from your living address they will pay you 1000 a week for the duration of your internship (usually around 8-12 weeks). You are responsible for finding transport and housing. If you live <50 miles from your living address they will not give you any internship support payments...

If you pay taxes quarterly (ahead of time) you can save money rather than paying the lump sum during tax season. It's definitely best to put some of your stipend away each month for taxes.

Heads up, they approved a 1 year extension for me but it took 10 months. Plan for a long wait!