<p>Thank you all for your replies. As for the “grace period,” I did check with the financial aid office and was told that the cumulative gpa is only checked at the end of the spring semester of each academic year. So the merit award for the freshman year is basically a done deal. If the cumulative gpa drops below 3.5 at the end of any spring semester, the merit aid ceases beginning with the next fall semester until the student gets the cumulative gpa back up to 3.5 (which hopefully would be by the end of that fall semester, so the merit aid would be reinstated for the following spring semester).</p>