my daughter was told by PHEAA over the phone…”congrats!” and they confirmed she would received the award/grant. that was in early october (about a month ago). pitt told us that they haven’t seen any checks actually come in (that was also about a month ago). i haven’t followed up since because i read that the PA House is still fighting over the budget and until that passes these grants are in limbo. seems like this program was already very new and unclear, now the house is making it even more challenging. if your daughter/son hasn’t called yet…i recommend calling 1-800-692-7392…they give more info to the student than the parent in my experience 
. it was nice to hear the “congrats” and at least know if PA can get out of its own way we will receive it. i do wonder if it will ever hit though and if the program will exist for anything close to the four years we have started.
looks like PA passed the budget which includes “$7.5 million for the Grow PA Scholarship Program, helping students pursue in-demand careers and strengthen Pennsylvania’s workforce pipeline.”
maybe we will hear something on the disbursements soon?
Happy the budget has finally passed! So unfortunately for my daughter, even though she was provisionally approved through PHEAA, she was not certified by Pitt FA as being in a qualified program this fall because she’s a student in Dietrich A&S, and while she came in as a Health Sciences and is taking courses in that plan of study, is considered undeclared and can’t qualify for the grant. Hope your student meets with a better outcome!
so sorry to hear that. hope it works out next year. did you get that info from PHEAA or from Pitt?
Thanks! They will take a look for spring so maybe the disbursement is split between fall and spring terms. We were in contact with both Pitt FA and PHEAA.
Can someone whose child has received merit describe where the award letter appears in the portal? My daughter keeps telling me she has nothing for a few different portals, then I saw a description for University fo Delaware that merit letters were in the “View your Financial Portal” tab. I told my daughter to go there and low and behold, she had a Presidential Merit Award. No email notification, nothing. Why they hide these things is beyond me. I want to make sure she’s not missing any other notices. Thank you!
deleted post - sorry posted in wrong thread!
hi, everyone on this board…just to share FYI - we received our first semester grow PA award (money was sent to Pitt and we see a credit from last semester in our balance). so the grow PA money does actually exist. 
good luck to all.
That is wonderful news! My freshman is stuck being eligible for the grant as per PHEAA and ineligible by Pitt by virtue of being interdisciplinary/undeclared based on their CIP codes. What major is your student? It does seem Pitt allows some majors declared straight out of the gate, but many of the pre-health STEM majors won’t allow major to be declared until all of the prereqs in Dietrich are completed (junior year) so those students will miss out on 2 years of the grant. Congrats on receiving the grant this year!
thanks! my student is a comp sci major…have another joining her big sis in he fall for bio…got both apps already in for next year (renewal and the first year). fingers crossed. the comms are crazy spotty still and cloogy…but just trying to control what i can. the second semester check hasn’t shown up yet btw. 
PHEAA gonna PHEAA 
Good luck to you! Hopefully the grant will adapt and be able to address these gaps with “undeclared/interdisciplinary” CIP students codes freshman and soph years for students actually taking bio, chem, etc. in moving toward that program of study that Pitt won’t allow to be declared until junior year as they are missing out on 2 years of the grant. I’ve got fingers crossed too!
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