No Debt Fund

Asbury University undergraduate students who are enrolled in at least 12 credit hours each semester, are in good academic and community living standing, have completed at least 75 credit hours, and have completed all of the grant requirements are eligible to apply.

Students who complete their undergraduate degree requirements in July, August, or December will be considered along with students scheduled to graduate the following May.

In the first year of the program (academic year 2025-26) applicants who are graduating in May 2026 may apply if all the requirements have been started at the time of application with a plan to complete the requirements by the end of the Spring semester.  For example, a required academic course could be started in January and finished at the end of the Spring semester.  In future years, all requirements need to be completed before applying.

No.  For December 2025 graduates, all requirements need to be completed before the application deadline.

BU393 will be offered Spring 2026. The frequency of its availability in the future is TBD.

An out-of-town trip—usually for several days—in which you (typically as part of a group) 1) use business knowledge you have learned to help others and/or 2) gain new business knowledge or learn about business in a new context.

Examples:

• The Australia study abroad trip led by Dr. Rob Lim.

• The Caribbean study abroad trip led by Dr. Tolu Bewaji

The trip does not have to be out of the U.S. and does not have to be sponsored by Asbury University.

No, only study abroad trips that have a business focus.

Yes.

Compass offers many excellent courses that will help you understand a biblical perspective on a particular financial topic and prepare you to deal with current and future challenges and opportunities in the area of finances.

There are two formats available.  Video self-study will give you the flexibility of studying on your own time.  Online instructor-led courses allow you to interact with other students online and to benefit from the discipleship of a trained leader.

Online/Instructor Led Only

• Building Your Finances God’s Way Financial Discipleship Study

• Set Your House in Order Financial Discipleship Study

Video Self Study OR Online/Instructor Led

• Navigating Your Finances God’s Way Video Study

• Making Ends Meet Video Study

• Business God’s Way Video Study

• Money & Marriage Video Study.

For scheduled instructor-led courses, see https://compassfinancialministry.org/biblical-financial-online-studies/.

For video self-study courses, see https://compassfinancialministry.org/store/.

If you cannot find the course you are looking for, you may contact Compass at 407-331-6000.

Note that Compass offers other courses as well, but those listed above are the only ones approved to fulfill the Financial Literacy requirement of the No Debt program.

Compass training will be at your expense.

No.

Any sales competition in which you participate as a member of the AU Sales Team qualifies.  The Eagle Sales Championship also qualifies.

Serve as a Member for 2 semesters.  The club Faculty Advisor will make a judgment as to whether a member is in “good standing;” attendance at scheduled meetings and participation will be important components of that determination.

If you find an event that might qualify, provide details to Dr. Allen who will determine whether the event qualifies.

If you find a conference that might qualify, provide details to Dr. Allen who will determine whether the event qualifies.

Yes.

For the purposes of meeting this requirement, you do not have to do an internship for credit.  However, there are two of the for-credit requirements that do have to be met for the internship to qualify:

• The internship must support learning in the area of your DSB major or minor.For example, if you are an ACC major, a Marketing internship would not qualif
• You need to work at least 150 hours over the course of the semester (as certified by the employer via email at the beginning and end of your internship).  This can be during the Fall, Spring, or Summer semesters.

The internship would need to be reviewed by either Professor Michelle Smith or Dr. Emily Walsh to verify that it meets these requirements.  Note that there are only a few additional requirements for an internship to qualify for credit, so if you need the credit hours for either your major or as an elective, you may want to discuss that option with your faculty advisor.

The paper should be 400 words or less and should demonstrate evidence of giving and/or a plan for generosity.  In this paper, discuss:

• Your beliefs about/philosophy of giving and the basis for those beliefs

• Your history of giving

• Your plans for giving after graduation

This requirement is under review.  There will be an update soon.

Debt that will be considered for this grant is limited to the following types of student incurred debt which was certified by Asbury University:

• Federal Direct Loans – loan(s) in the student’s name
• Alternative/Private Loans – education loan(s) issued by a private lender in the student’s name that are certified by the school.
• Institutional Loans – educational loan(s) issued by Asbury University to the student.

Debt that is excluded from this grant program:

• Parent PLUS loans
• Private loans in the parent(s)’ name

Contact Asbury University Financial Aid with questions about which of your specific loans qualify for this grant program.

Recipients of grants from this program should consult with a tax professional regarding the impact of the grant on the recipient’s personal income tax liability.  Grants will likely be treated as ordinary income and thus subject to income tax.  No tax withholding will be done as part of the grant payment process, so recipients are advised to make estimated tax payment(s) to the IRS and the recipient’s home state (if applicable) to avoid penalties.  Recipients may want to ask their tax professional about filing form 2210 to avoid underpayment penalties since the grant will be received in a single payment.