Academic Scholarships – College

To qualify for funding through the Academic Scholarships – College program, you must first apply for financial aid or provide proof of ineligibility.

How do I know if I’m ineligible for financial aid?
If you have already earned a Bachelor’s degree, you are no longer eligible for financial aid. In this case, simply upload a copy of your diploma or unofficial transcript with your Academic Scholarships application. Alternatively, if you have other documentation confirming your ineligibility for financial aid, you can submit that instead. Upload this document as an “additional document” during the “Documents” step of your application.

If approved for Academic Scholarships, you will receive a support stipend each semester you are enrolled, regardless of whether your tuition and mandatory fees are fully covered by financial aid.

The Academic Scholarships POWER-ED wage supplement program was discontinued in 2024 due to funding decisions.

Yes, our Academic Scholarships program has a minimum GPA requirement for renewal each semester.

• Technical Certificate of Credit (TCC), Technical College Diploma (TCD), and Associate Degree programs: Minimum 2.0 GPA
• Bachelor’s Degree programs: Minimum 2.5 GPA

To renew your scholarship, you must submit your grades from the previous semester to DECAL Scholars as soon as they are available. Your application for the next semester will not proceed without this submission.

Academic Scholarships cannot be used to cover past-due balances with a college or university. Students must resolve any outstanding debts with their institution before becoming eligible to apply for and receive Academic Scholarships.

If you are not eligible for Pell or other financial aid because your student loans are in default, then you cannot receive Academic Scholarships. You must submit proof that your loans are no longer in default before you can receive Academic Scholarships. To find out more information about managing loans in default, click here.

The Georgia Professional Development System (GaPDS), offered by the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, supports the early care and education workforce. It enables you to build a comprehensive profile of your career, including your employment history, training hours, and earned credentials or degrees. You must create a profile on the GaPDS website to apply for DECAL Scholars programs.

Getting started is simple! You can register even if you haven’t earned a credential or degree yet. Download your free guide to creating a GaPDS account by clicking here. To learn more or to create your account, visit gapds.decal.ga.gov.

For questions or technical assistance, contact the GaPDS team at 404-334-6461 (or toll-free at 866-258-7737 outside metro Atlanta) or email them at gapds@decal.ga.gov.

We understand that it may take some time to receive notice of award or denial from financial aid. Please complete your Academic Scholarships application and attach your FAFSA Submission Summary with your application. Once your official financial aid offer is reflected in your student account for the term (whether you have received approval or denial for financial aid), please upload that information to your DECAL Scholars account, or email it to support@decalscholars.com.

The one-step method of determining the financial aid available to you is to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online or with assistance through the financial aid office of your college or university. Upon notification of the outcome, your school will determine your eligibility for both federal and state aid (i.e., HOPE Grant, HOPE Scholarship and Pell Grant). To track your academic eligibility for HOPE, click here.

You can renew your Academic Scholarship if you maintain an eligible employment status and minimum GPA requirement. The requirement is a 2.0 GPA for TCC, TCD, and Associate Degree programs. The requirement is a 2.5 GPA for Bachelor’s Degree programs.

No earlier than 60 days prior to the start of your next semester, submit a renewal application. Please include the following documents (if there isn’t a designated upload category for any of these documents, you can upload them as “Additional Documents” under the “Documents” section of your application):

• Copy of schedule of classes for the next term.
• Copies of two recent pay stubs reflecting your name, the name of your employer, and your gross (before deductions) wages. Family child care learning home providers and owners who do not pay themselves W2 wages submit a copy of last year’s Schedule C or other federal tax form documenting net business income.
• Copy of updated financial aid documentation (if eligible for FAFSA (HOPE and Pell)) (documentation is only needed once per year).

You also must submit a copy of your grades upon completion of the prior term once they are posted (or Good Standing Letter from Montessori Credential Program) for your application to finish processing.

As long as you continue to meet the eligibility requirements for our Academic Scholarships program, you can continue to apply each time you are working towards a new credential or degree.

If you are enrolled in two different educational programs, you may be able to receive scholarships for both programs at the same time. For example, if you are earning your CDA credential and Associate degree at the same time, you can receive our CDA Scholarships program and Academic Scholarships program at the same time.

If you have earned your Bachelor’s degree with tuition assistance from DECAL Scholars, and desire to further your education, you could go back and earn your CDA or TCC (such as a TCC in Early Childhood Care and Education Program Administration) and apply to receive tuition assistance from DECAL Scholars. However, you may not be eligible for any additional Incentives payments once you complete your program if the credential or degree you have recently earned is considered a lower level than your highest level credential or degree earned in early childhood education.

(1) Tuition and Fees

If you meet the eligibility requirements each semester you are enrolled, you will receive Academic Scholarships funds as follows, after any financial aid or outside scholarships are taken into account:

• 80% of tuition and mandatory fees per semester at a public college/university
• Up to $2,496 of tuition and mandatory fees per semester at a private college/university

Tuition and fees are paid directly to the college or university.

(2) Support Stipend

You will also receive a support stipend as follows:

• $250 per semester for 1-3 credit hours
• $500 per semester for 4(+) credit hours
• Special programs
  • Infant/Toddler program of study: $500 per semester for 1-3 credit hours or $1,000 for 4(+) credit hours
  • DECAL-licensed Family Child Care Learning Home providers: $750 per semester for 1-3 credit hours or $1,500 for 4(+) credit hours

The support stipend is paid directly to the applicant after the end of the drop/add period each semester.

The Substitute Stipend program supports DECAL Scholars Scholarship recipients in the time and effort it takes to further their professional growth. It also encourages employers to advocate for their employees’ educational pursuits, recognizing the beneficial impact of higher-quality care on the children they serve. Through this program, employers of Academic, Montessori, or CDA Training Scholarships recipients can opt to receive a $15-per-hour stipend to help cover the cost of a substitute, offsetting part of the expense of providing paid time off for employees to attend classes, study, complete assignments, or take exams as they commit to their professional development.

To participate, employers must provide their employee with paid time off for the purposes mentioned above. The program offers a standard rate of $15 per hour to help offset expenses incurred while the employee is on paid time off. Each scholarship recipient’s employer is eligible to receive a maximum of $1,500 in substitute stipends for a maximum of 100 hours of paid time off per recipient per semester, term, or CDA class.

To qualify for reimbursement, this accurately completed log must be signed by both the employer and the employee and submitted to support@decalscholars.com. Logs can be submitted monthly or at the end of the semester or CDA class, but all submissions must be received by the end of the final month of classes to be eligible for the stipend.

It is important that you send all supporting documents at the time of completing your application to avoid any delays in processing.

DECAL Scholars accepts legible PDFs, screenshots, photo copies, scans, and photos (only in JPG format, not HEIC). Please do not send documents as links.

The following documents must be uploaded with your application:

• Copies of two recent paystubs reflecting the name of your employer, your name and gross and net wages. If you are a Family Child Care Learning Home or a Director/Owner and do not pay yourself W-2 wages, you should submit a copy of last year’s Schedule C, Schedule K or other federal tax form documenting net business income.
• Copy of your Submission Summary from financial aid and then your award/denial letter once available.
• Your schedule of classes.
• Copy of your Professional Development System (GaPDS) profile reflecting your GaPDS number, the name of your current employer, and a “Pending” or “Active” status.
• Copy of the front and back of a secure and verifiable document.