CHARLESTON, W.Va. –The deadline to receive full funding from the Hope Scholarship for the 2025-2026 school year is set for this Sunday.
Hope Scholarship is given to eligible K-12 students to help with financial assistance for tuition, fees, and other expenses.
State Treasurer and Chairman of the Hope Scholarship Board, Larry Park was on MetroNews Talkline Friday morning to talk about the scholarship and the quickly approaching deadline.
Pack said that along with his administration, they are trying to make sure that everyone is aware of the deadline.
“So, we’re basically wanting to bring as much awareness as we can for people to get those applications in so that we can make sure that we meet their needs and able to get the money flowing to them before the school season starts in August,” he said.
For the 2025-2026 school students will receive $5,267.38 to use, while previously students only got $4,298.60.
Students are eligible to receive the scholarship if they are eligible to be enrolled in a Kindergarten program, if were enrolled in public elementary or secondary school in the state for the entire instructional term during the current term before the term they are applying for the scholarship and if they were enrolled in an elementary or secondary school for 45 days and stayed enrolled while their application is being reviewed.
Pack said that because of the increase in what students will receive, they are expected to see an uptick in how many students apply.
“So, we’re going to have an increase in the number of students over last year, I think we’re going to go from 10,000 to somewhere short of 19,000,” he said.
The money can be used to purchase things such as tutoring, electronics (laptop, iPad etc.), musical instruments required for a music class and more.
Pack said that the board tries to be lenient for what parents can purchase with the money but sometimes they have to draw the line.
“We have a board who approves and disproves certain expenditures mostly related to homeschool students and mostly as to parents have different ideas of what’s important and how to educate their children and we want to be as lenient as we can but there’s certain times we have to draw the line,” Pack said.
He said this because in recent weeks, parents were asking if they could buy ammunition or gaming consoles with the money. This caused the board to release a list of unallowable items that can be purchased.
Pack said that in the 2026-2027 school year the scholarship will become available for all eligible students.
He says he believes that the government will be able to accommodate for this.
“I believe our financial situation in West Virginia is really the best it’s ever been, definitely in my lifetime, so we have the money to do the things that we need to do, sometimes you have to prioritize things,” Pack said.
He said that the government should continue investing in the Hope Scholarship just like they did this year during the 2025 Legislative Session. The government has allocated $110 million dollars for the fund for the scholarship.
Pack also wanted residents to know the other deadlines:
June 16- Sept. 15: Application due date for 75% of Hope Scholarship annual award amount
Sept. 16- Nov. 30: Application due date for 50% of Hope Scholarship annual award amount
Dec 1- Feb. 28: Application due date for 25% of Hope Scholarship annual award amount
Students who wish to renew their participation in the program during the school also have until June 15 to submit their Continuing Participation Confirmations.
After students fill out the application, they are also required to fill out a notice of intent that they are participating in the program to their local superintendent.
For more information on the scholarship can visit their website here.
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