WUE Tuition Discount at UM

• Alaska 

• Arizona 

• California 

• Colorado 

• Hawaii 

• Idaho 

• Nevada 

• New Mexico 

• North Dakota 

• Oregon 

• South Dakota 

• Utah 

• Washington 

• Wyoming 

• The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) 

• Guam  

Eligibility for the WUE is based upon a student’s weighted OR unweighted cumulative GPA (whichever is highest). The minimum GPA to qualify for WUE as an incoming freshman is 3.0 or higher. Transfer students must have a cumulative college GPA of 3.5 or higher to qualify. 

Not all qualified first-year applicants will receive the WUE award. The Scholarship Committee will select from among qualified applicants, with particular attention to course rigor and performance, extracurricular activity, and letters of recommendation or other supplementary material. 

Eligible applicants must be a first-time incoming student (new freshmen or transfer), seeking an undergraduate degree on the Mountain Campus at the University of Montana.  

Missoula College students are not eligible for the WUE. Post-baccalaureate students (i.e. students who have previously earned a bachelor's degree), international students and graduate students are not eligible to receive the WUE. 

Students who are not continuously enrolled (except summers), transfer to Missoula College, establish Montana residency or become distance-only students forfeit the scholarship. WUE recipients cease to be eligible for the WUE upon completion of a bachelor's degree. The WUE scholarship can be used during summer terms. Students wishing to establish Montana residency cannot do so while receiving the benefit of the WUE scholarship. 

If you qualify for the WUE program as an incoming freshman, it is renewable for four years.  WUE students are required to sign up for 15 credits each semester or a total of 30 credits in an academic year (fall, spring and summer) to receive and maintain the award. The scholarship will automatically be renewed if, at the end of the spring semester, a student has completed 15 or more credits per semester and has a cumulative GPA of 3.0. A student’s academic major will not affect eligibility. For transfer students, the number of years for which the scholarship is renewable is based on the number of transfer credits accepted by UM. 

• 0-29 credits, 4 years 

• 30-59 credits, 3 years 

• 60+ credits, 2 years 

WUE awards are based on the grades available when you are admitted. If you later improve your GPA, you must petition for reconsideration using the Scholarship Appeal Form. Appeals will be reviewed monthly. Our financial aid appeal process allows admitted students to ask for a re-evaluation of their merit-based financial aid for a variety of reasons: 

• Improved GPA 

• Strong extracurricular involvement 

• Life events that affected academic performance 

• Competing offers 

• Special financial circumstances (requires documentation) 

WUE does not “stack” with other scholarships. Students selected to receive the WUE are not eligible to receive other non-resident entering student scholarships. WUE recipients cannot also receive the UM Academic Achievement Scholarship (UMAAS), therefore students who receive the WUE discounted tuition rate automatically forfeit their UMAAS offer. Students from WUE states who do not qualify for the WUE will be considered for the UMAAS award.